News

Volunteer Academy 2026 (September) - call for participants until June 28

The International Center for Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum invites adults to take part in the “Volunteer Academy” project, which will take place from 12 to 18 September 2026 at the Auschwitz Memorial.

Participants in the Academy will have the opportunity to learn in detail about the history of the German Nazi concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz. The programme includes an extended visit to the former camp, as well as additional classes conducted by historians and educators from the Museum.

The most important element of the project will be support in creating the Digital Repository of the Museum. “This year, we will focus on postwar materials, memoirs, accounts, and testimonies of Survivors, which constitute an extremely valuable source of knowledge about the fate of people who survived KL Auschwitz,” said Anna Jawień from the Archival Analysis and Information Section of the Archive.

These documents were created in various languages and historical periods. Many of them have already undergone the digitisation process, but they require further work: verification and correction of transcriptions, as well as the preparation of translations into English so that they can be used more widely in international research.

“The materials that participants will work on include accounts by people who, after the war, described their camp experiences, the fate of their families, and the process of rebuilding their lives after liberation. The work of volunteers will make it possible to make these testimonies available in a more accessible form, so they can be used in research, education, and commemoration,” emphasised Anna Jawień.

The results of this year’s activities will be presented in the form of studies of selected Survivors’ stories, prepared by the Academy participants. Thanks to their involvement, further fragments of the postwar heritage of memory will be incorporated into the Digital Repository, so that in the future they may be made available to future generations of researchers and audiences.

“Previous editions, held both online and on site, were attended by people from all over the world. Participants included residents of Poland, the United States, Australia, Macedonia, France, Germany, Bulgaria, Italy, Slovakia, and Malaysia, among others. Volunteering for the Memorial is always an activity rooted in personal need. The commitment of these people to helping is extraordinary and, at the same time, builds a community aware of its moral responsibility,” emphasised Katarzyna Marcak, who heads Volunteering and Internships at the ICEAH.

Participants will stay in the hostel located in the immediate vicinity of the Museum.

Dates: 12-18 September 2026

The project will be conducted in English and participation is free of charge. Participants cover their own travel costs.

PROGRAMME OF THE VOLUNTEER ACADEMY 2026

The number of places is limited. Participation in the project is not determined by the order of applications. Candidates with the highest number of points in the following criteria will qualify for the project:

• knowledge of languages
• computer skills
• other skills useful during the implementation of the project
• the candidate’s motivation to take part in the project and expectations related to participation

Those interested in taking part in the project are asked to complete the online form by 28 June 2026. Information regarding participation in the project will be sent by 6 July 2026.

Contact:

Katarzyna Marcak, Kinga Bukowska