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Invitation. Preparations Underway for the 61st Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz

The Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Oświęcim and the Auschwitz Preservation Society invite you to a ceremony on the 61st Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz at the site of the Birkenau camp, January 27, 2006, at noon.

The Honorary Patron of the ceremony is The Chairman of the Council of Ministers, Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz.

Mass for the intention of the Victims of Auschwitz and Divine Blessings on surviving prisoners will be said at 10:00 a.m. on January 27, 2006 at the Church of the Divine Mercy, Osiedle Rotmistrza Witolda Pileckiego in Oświęcim.

Preparations Underway for the 61st Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz

He is always between meetings. Aside from a possible visit to Oświęcim by Pope Benedict XVI, Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum director Jerzy Wróblewski also has to organize the 61st anniversary of the camp’s liberation.

With the anniversary falling on January 27, little time remains. On Tuesday, Wróblewski talked with officials at Oświęcim police headquarters about how the police will ensure security at the ceremonies.

“Since this isn’t a round-number anniversary like the big one last year, we don’t expect more than a thousand people to attend,” said Wróblewski. “There will surely be diplomats from the nearby consulates in Cracow and Katowice, officials from the Małopolska and Silesia provinces, veterans’ organizations, and the most important guests of all—former prisoners.”

On Tuesday, the Museum dispatched several hundred official invitations to the observances. “We also sent out a great deal of information to churches and the deaconate in Oświęcim,” Wróblewski went on. “Next Sunday, they will read out invitations for local residents to take part in this ceremony.”

The observances will not last long. The schedule runs slightly more than one hour. First, Wróblewski will deliver a reminder about the historical importance of the ceremony, before former Auschwitz prisoners present a 35-minute program of reminiscences.

“This year,” Wróblewski explains, “we want to place a particular accent on children and women in the camp. They will therefore be the main figures in the commemoration.” Afterwards, those in attendance will lay flowers and light candles at Birkenau, the site of the observances.

“Of course, flowers and candles will also appear earlier at the Death Wall, the little cemetery adjacent to the Museum, the parish cemetery, and on the graves of Soviet POWs,” Wróblewski said.

Mass will also be said for the intention of the camp’s victims and the surviving prisoners of Auschwitz-Birkenau in the morning, before the ceremony, at the Church of Divine Mercy near the camp.

(BAJ) Dziennik Polski Jan. 12, 2006