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Tourists and the City of Oświęcim Farther Apart
The Municipal Tourist Information Point in Oświęcim has been moved from the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum to the Maja Tourist Service center, several hundred meters away. The decision was taken by Oświęcim mayor Janusz Marszałek.
The Municipal Tourist Information Point opened at the Museum a year ago last July. The mayor at the time was Józef Krawczyk.
The staff at the Information Point encouraged tourists to visit the city. The decided majority of them visit only the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum, and not the city of Oświęcim, founded 800 years ago.
Oświęcim City Hall spokesperson Katarzyna Kwiecień confirmed that the decision to move the information point had been made, and that it would take effect as soon as premises were ready at the Maja center. The city will cover the cost, estimated at 15,000 zloty.
The Maja corporation is currently headed by Marta Marszałek, the mayor’s wife. Until his election, Januasz Marszalek ran the company himself.
A Brief History of Maja
The controversy around the Maja parking and service center dates from 1996. Following protests from some Jewish groups about the inappropriateness of carrying out commercial activity over the remains of Auschwitz victims, the Bielsko provincial governor ordered a halt to construction work. Several years later, a court ruled that Maja had the right to build and deserved damages for the interruption to the work.
Following the Maja conflict, the Polish government approved the Oświęcim Strategic Government Program in 1996, which calls for the regulation and utilization of the buffer zone around the Museum and the modernization of the transport system in Oświęcim.
The Maja Tourist Service center opened last year and includes a parking lot, pharmacy, news agents’, souvenir shop, bookstore, and fast-food restaurant.
