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Historical documents from a controversial auction in Germany given to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation

433 historical documents scheduled for sale at an auction house in Neuss, Germany, in November last year, were entrusted to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation. The official handover took place on 30 January at the seat of the parliament of the German federal state of North Rhine–Westphalia.

The documents relate to various crimes committed during the Second World War and the German occupation of Poland. They originate, among others, from ghettos and several concentration camps. The collection also includes camp correspondence. A significant part of the set concerns the Auschwitz camp.

“As soon as information about the auction surfaced, given the nature of the documents and their importance, we immediately began talks with the authorities of the federal state of North Rhine–Westphalia, as the auction house is located on its territory. The goal was not only to stop the auction, but also to safeguard the collection and find a way to transfer these exceptional material testimonies to where they belong,” said Wojciech Soczewica, Director General of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation.

The discussions concerning the formal transfer of the documents lasted many weeks.

“I am grateful that we found a solution that enables the transfer of this set of documents to the archives of the appropriate memorial institutions. Preserving memory in archives and museums protects the dignity of the victims and supports further research and education on the inhuman processes of Nazi persecution and extermination,” said André Kuper, President of the Parliament of North Rhine–Westphalia.

The President of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation and Director of the Auschwitz Museum, Dr. Piotr M. A. Cywiński, emphasized the great importance of the fact that the Foundation acquired the collection on a trust basis.

“We will now give the documents to the thematically appropriate institutions and memorial sites, where they will be incorporated into archival holdings, conserved, and subjected to scholarly processing. Thanks to this, they will be used in educational work and made widely accessible,” he emphasized.

The transfer of the documents was made possible through cooperation among the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation, the authorities of the federal state of North Rhine–Westphalia, long-standing institutional partners, and private donors.

The collection was given to the Foundation three days after the commemoration of the 81st anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.