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Protecting the sky over the Memorial

Auschwitz Museum is probably the first museum in the world for which an official flight restriction zone was established. It will make it possible to better protect the authentic site of the former camp as well as the visitors of the Memorial through among others the possibility to control drones flying over the historical area visited each year by over two million people.

The “EP P20 MUZEUM AUSCHWITZ BIRKENAU” zone was officially introduced by the ordinance of the Polish Minister of Infrastructure as of March 5th 2019, which came into force on July 2nd.

'Each year, the interest in flights over the Memorial is increasing and drones make it easier to perform sky photographs even for private individuals. It used to happen that several such machines were used at the same time over former camp site without any knowledge from our part. This was the source of serious questions about the security of both historical objects as well as the people within its premises. It is also important that a drone in the sky, in particular near the groups, simply disturbs the guides and visitors. Due to this fact, already a few years ago, we began to introduce some limitations concerning the use of this technology. Consents for drone flights are issued nearly exclusively to film crews. They are usually held outside Museum opening hours. However, so far we did not dispose of legal tools to ensure the safety of airspace over the historical post-camp premises for all. It has now changed and – probably as the first museum in the world – we have the possibility to control what is happening above our heads and the heads of our visitors,' said Dr. Piotr M. A. Cywiński, Director of the Auschwitz Museum.

'The site of the Auschwitz I camp were so far situated within the flight restriction zone of the Synthos company, with which we were closely cooperating. The space over former Auschwitz II-Birkenau camp was, in turn, not protected in this way. Establishing the official flight restriction zone makes it easier to coordinate the activity of drone operators or other flights at the Memorial Site and equips the Museum with legal tools making it possible for them to react in case of flights organized without our consent,' said Bartosz Bartyzel, Museum Spokesman.

'A very important aspect consists in not impeding the realization of planned and necessary flights outside the immediate vicinity of the Memorial. For this purpose, while managing the zone, we will be strictly cooperating both with competent services as well as local authorities,' Bartyzel added.

Information on the rules of performing the flights within the new EP P20 zone as well as on the requirements for drone operators is included on the special website auschwitz.org/epp20. You can also find there the application form for a drone flight over the Memorial Site.