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First Polish Local Government Lends Support to Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation
Tomasz Tamborski, the starosta or head of the local administration in Kołobrzeg county has urged local governments across Poland to lend their financial support to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation. The council of the Kołobrzeg county passed a motion today to contribute ten thousand zloty to the Foundation in the first event of its kind in Poland.
Tamborski's initiative is a response to an appeal made on the sixty-sixth anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz by Professor Władysław Bartoszewski, former Auschwitz prisoner and the initiator of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation. The money will help maintain the authenticity of the German Nazi concentration and extermination camp for future generations.
"I hope that local governments, and not only from Western Pomerania wojewodztwo, will respond to this appeal. I am convinced that we not only can, but above all must join the project for rescuing the former camp. The sums need not be great. If each local government can be convinced to support the Foundation to the tune of even ten thousand zloty, it would be possible to speed up the raising of the needed sum," said Tamborski.
"The initiative by the starosta of Kołobrzeg is exceptionally valuable. If other local governments get on board the project, it will mean an earlier start for carrying out the Auschwitz Memorial conservation program and increase the chance of winning the race with the rapid passage of time. This is a very important signal that testifies to the great sensitivity to the tragedy of the victims of Auschwitz, and also to an appreciation of the importance of upholding the remembrance of the history of this camp," said the Director General of the Foundation, Jacek Kastelaniec, who also remarked that the contributors to the Foundation so far include two cities from France, Paris and Boulogne-Billancourt.
The task of the Foundation is to raise €120 million for a Perpetual Fund, the income from which will make it possible to carry out a long-term conservation program for the grounds of the former German Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp Auschwitz. Financial pledges of €80 million have already been collected, mainly from Germany, Austria, and the United States.
