News
Oświęcim Misses Out on 2 Million Zloty
The Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Oświęcim has lost an endowment worth almost 2 million zloty. The Grand Circle Foundation of Boston has withdrawn from plans to help underwrite the future headquarters of the International Center for Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust (ICEAH). The lost funding had been earmarked for the adaptation of the so-called “Old Theatre” building, located directly adjacent to the site of the Auschwitz I-Main Camp.
The Museum had already prepared the plans for the adaptation work and attempted several times over the last few years to obtain permission from the city authorities to begin work. However, the lack of a zoning plan for the Holocaust Memorial area (see below) has blocked the project.
The versions of the zoning plan put forward to date by Oświęcim President (mayor) Janusz Marszałek call for commercial activity to be moved from the Museum grounds to land owned by a private company. For the Museum, this would mean the loss of income that covers half its budget and, in turn, the blocking of preservation, education, and commemorative work, and mass layoffs of employees.
For Oświęcim residents, the development of the Center means new jobs. The Museum already employs over 200 people and cooperates with a further 200 guides. The new headquarters and the growth of the ICEAH will mean jobs for additional professional, clerical, service, and security staff.
Construction and installation work also mean new jobs for local companies. The numerous groups visiting the Center and attending its seminars would be customers for local providers of food and accommodations, adding significant income to the local economy.
The ICEAH was created on the strength of a Polish government decision in 2004. More than 200 former prisoners signed the foundation act. Forty heads of state, prime ministers, and members of royalty attended the symbolic opening of the Center on January 27, 2007. During his visit to Auschwitz in May 2006, Pope Benedict XVI referred to the ICEAH as an institution giving hope to the world.
The ICEAH will be an outstanding attraction for the city of Oświęcim, providing an opportunity for contact with institutions and educational centers around the world. It will host seminars, lasting several days, for educators, teachers, students, and other interested parties. Only the kind of educational programs offered by the ICEAH can keep large groups in the city of Oświęcim for longer periods than the traditional visit lasting several hours.
The dispute over the zoning plan for the area around the Auschwitz-Birkenau Holocaust Memorial
The statute of May 7, 1999 on the protection of the sites of Nazi death camps obliges the local authorities to draw up a zoning plan for the area around the Holocaust Memorial. Only then can construction work begin within the protected area, which includes the “Old Theater”—the future home of the ICEAH.
All of the versions of the plan put forward so far by Oświęcim President Janusz Marszałek have been unacceptable. They involve ending all commercial activity on the Museum grounds, which would deprive the institution of the income that covers half its budget, and, in turn, the blocking of preservation, education, and commemorative work, and mass layoffs of employees. Under the proposals from the city president, the commercial activity would be moved to the private premises formerly owned by the now-defunct Maja company.
Janusz Marszałek has recently sent to versions of the zoning plan to the Minister of Culture and National Heritage. Although the Museum grounds make up most of the land covered by the plan, there was never consultation with the Museum. The ministry rejected Marszałek’s plans because they clearly favored the Maja company and threatened the functioning of the Museum.
It was this impasse that led the Grand Circle Foundation to withdraw funding for the adaptation of the Old Theater building; the construction work remains blocked and the ICEAH has no premises in which to expand its operations.
The ICEAH has the task of conducting all educational activities at the Museum. It would be an effective tool in the fight against ignorance and the distortion of history. Today, in the context of Holocaust denial and the repeated use of the term “Polish camps,” this is a mission of special importance.
