News
Entirely new kind of connection. Auschwitz Memorial in the Internet
Just three months after its founding, 25 thousand people from all over the world have joined the official Auschwitz Memorial page at Facebook.
The site publishes not only information about events in the history of Auschwitz, but also texts on what is happening today at the Museum, announcements of new publications, and links to contemporary photographs of the Memorial. Most of the entries refer to in-depth information on the official Museum website. The Facebook page has a discussion forum, and it is also possible to pose questions for Museum historians.
“Establishing direct contact with people eager for a deeper bond with the history and the contemporary face of the Memorial is new for us all. But there is no reason why we should not benefit from such arrangements. What matters is to reach everyone, and the Internet facilitates contact with people who have not yet visited the Memorial or who, because of distance, will not be able to come back soon. This is creating an entirely new kind of connection,” said Museum Director Dr. Piotr MA Cywinski.
”Twenty-five thousand people in such a short time is a huge success, especially since the Internet users come from literally all over the world. In addition to a very large group from the USA, Israel, France, Great Britain, Germany, Poland or other European countries, whose history is in some way connected with the history of Auschwitz, there are many registered users from such distant countries as Argentina, Turkey, Australia, Brazil, Chile, or New Zealand. All treat our website with great respect, which is worth emphasizing,” said project leader Pawel Sawicki.
The statistics on the users are also very interesting in terms of their age. Contrary to expectations, not only young people use the website. No fewer than 40 percent are between 34 and 54 years of age, and a further 27 percent are even older.
According to Sawicki, foreign languages were a problem at first. “Initially, all the information posted by the Museum was in Polish and English. However, with the help of volunteers from all around the world, the posts are today translated into an additional six languages: Spanish, German, Italian, French, Portuguese and Hebrew. There is a growing group of people around the project who dedicate their free time to working with us. Thanks to the potential of Facebook, finding translators took us only a few hours,” said Sawicki.
Ernesto Rey of Uruguay, a beekeeper by profession, translates entries from English to Spanish. “I wanted my friends to be able to find out more about what happened during the Holocaust. The possibility of cooperation with the Memorial is a great privilege for me. The new generation should know about and remember those crimes, and what is published on the Internet can reach almost everywhere. With almost daily posts on the Museum website itself, I can learn a lot about the history of Auschwitz. I would like my translations to be useful to other users, but also was an expression of respect for the memory of all who suffered and perished in the camps,” he said.
The Facebook page is only one of the places on the Internet where the Auschwitz Museum is active. The most important is still the official website, www.auschwitz.org. The site has aroused great interest. Since March last year, namely from the time when statistics have been possible, 2 million people have visited. The Memorial also has an official channel on You Tube, which offers brief informational videos prepared by the Museum. Nearly 40 thousand people have already viewed them.
