News
Jan Nowak-Jeziorański Award for the Auschwitz Museum
The Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum has been honored with the 2025 Jan Nowak-Jeziorański Award. The award was accepted on June 4 by the director of the Museum Dr. Piotr M. A. Cywiński, during a ceremony held at the Ossolineum Institute in Wrocław.
The award was established in 2004 by Jan Nowak-Jeziorański together with the Mayor of Wrocław, the University of Wrocław, the Ossolineum Institute, and the College of Eastern Europe.
It is granted to individuals who “embody the idea of the state as a common good”, as well as to institutions that have played a significant role in the fall of communism, the restoration of Poland’s independence, and the development of civil society in Central and Eastern Europe.
This year’s award was given “for the Museum’s unwavering dedication to preserving memory and defending truth—essential foundations for reconciliation.” As emphasized by the award committee, the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum has long stood as a guardian of historical truth and a global reminder of the tragedy of the Holocaust.
“We bow deeply to the representatives of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum, thanking you for your daily work as guardians of truth and responsibility. May the lesson of this difficult history never be repeated. May the world we live in remain a common good for all people,” emphasized Jacek Sutryk, Mayor of Wrocław and a member of the award committee.
“The Auschwitz Memorial is more than a museum. It is a space of responsibility, warning, and education. In times when historical truth is increasingly challenged, such institutions must not only protect it but also bear witness loudly and clearly,” said Jacek Sutryk.
While receiving the award, Dr. Cywiński reflected on the significance of memory: “The Auschwitz Memorial was established by Polish survivors. Out of their own tragedy, suffering, and torment, they gave us the greatest gift they could—this space of memory, which today serves as one of the most recognized moral reference points in the world. In times of growing turbulence, we understand more than ever the power and support that memory can offer.”
“I wish to pay tribute to all those, both living and deceased, who have devoted so much of their lives to preserving, strengthening, and presenting this Memorial to the world. I also thank everyone who works at the Museum today and continues this particularly important mission,” he added.
“The Auschwitz Museum is a place that consistently and powerfully warns humanity about the consequences of hatred. It carries a universal message—one that, unfortunately, each new generation, including ours, continues to be reminded of,” said Dr. Łukasz Kamiński, Director of the Ossolineum Institute.
“With more than two million visitors annually, the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum not only documents and commemorates the victims of the German Nazi concentration and extermination camp, but also carries out extensive educational activities and fosters international dialogue on the legacy of the 20th century,” one reads.
The award committee includes:
- Jacek Sutryk – Mayor of Wrocław
- Dr. Rafał Dutkiewicz – former Mayor of Wrocław
- Laurynas Vaičiūnas – President of the College of Eastern Europe
- Dr. Łukasz Kamiński – Director of the Ossolineum
- Prof. Robert Olkiewicz – Rector of the University of Wrocław
- Jan Malicki – Director of the Center for Eastern European Studies
- Prof. Jerzy Zdrada
The award is traditionally presented in June to mark the anniversary of the partially free parliamentary elections held in Poland in 1989.
Previous laureates include: Tadeusz Mazowiecki, Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger, Sergei Kovalyov, Václav Havel, the Literary Institute in Paris, Prof. Zbigniew Brzeziński, Lithuanian writer Tomas Venclova, the International Memorial Association, and former Israeli Ambassador to Poland Szewach Weiss.
