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Volkswagen’s gift to the Museum will help preserve Auschwitz for future generations
On 23 February 2018, a new car was donated to the Museum at the head office of Volkswagen in Wolfsburg, which will support the work of conservators at the Memorial. The cooperation between the Auschwitz Museum and Volkswagen has been going on for over two decades, and the significant element is the joint visits of German and Polish youth, who among others, assist in various works aimed at preserving the authenticity of post-camp relics.
While expressing gratitude for the present to the Museum, the deputy director of the Museum and director of the International Centre for Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust, Andrzej Kacorzyk said: - I appreciate your commitment to supporting the activities of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum in the form of such tangible gifts as cars and buses. The most important thing, however, is to continue to develop educational projects that help young people to understand the threats of the contemporary world.
- For me, the most crucial issue is the work with young people and the awareness that we help the Auschwitz Museum to convey the knowledge about the history of this place to young people and the entire world. There are often concerns that young people will stop visiting Auschwitz. No! Young people visit the Memorial, and their number is increasingly growing. They want to know that we can help them understand. Today, we are a liaison between the survivors and young people - said the vice-president of the International Auschwitz Committee, Christoph Heubner, who for years has been actively supporting the activities of Volkswagen for the Auschwitz Museum.
On the day the car was handed, the secretary general and managing director of VW Mr Gunnar Kilian received the honorary award “To B remembered” from the International Auschwitz Committee for the many years of involvement in preserving the Auschwitz Memorial.
– As Volkswagen, we must say: Thank you to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial because we receive a lot of help from you, due to which we can bring German youth to the Auschwitz Museum so that they can work alongside young people from Poland. I think this experience will accompany them for the rest of their lives - said Gunnar Kilian.
The German Minister of Foreign of Affairs Sigmar Gabriel who participated in the event said that this work must be continued. I visited the Auschwitz Museum with groups organised by Action Reconciliation Service for Peace. After visiting the Auschwitz Memorial people are very moved because the learn, not only from books, what people could do to others, what responsibilities lie with the Germans for the past and future. I encourage everyone to continue this work - he stressed.
In recent years, the Museum received among others, two buses from Volkswagen AG and the IAC, which transport visitors for free between the sites of the former Auschwitz I and Auschwitz-Birkenau camps, situated at a distance of 2 km from each other.