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Władysław Bartoszewski Again Named Chairman of International Auschwitz Council
Polish Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz today named Professor Władysław Bartoszewski Chairman of the International Auschwitz Council, whose previous term of office expired in February.
Also present at the ceremony were Deputy Minister of Culture Jarosław Sellin, Department of Museums Director Franciszek Cemka, and International Center for Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust Deputy Board Chairman Piotr M.A. Cywiński.
Cywiński handed Marcinkiewicz a letter composed and signed a day earlier by the members of the Education Center Board at the conclusion of their inaugural meeting.
In the letter, the Board stressed the need for the Center to exist as an element for perpetuating the remembrance of the victims of Auschwitz by educating coming generations. The letter also discussed the hopes associated with promises made by Marcinkiewicz’s government to overcome by the end of the year the administrative barriers to the beginning of work to adapt the so-called Old Theater building as premises for the Center.
During their meeting, Marcinkiewicz and Bartoszewski also discussed important issues connected with the functioning of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial.
[from PAP] April 7, Warsaw (PAP – Polish Press Agency) – Former Polish Foreign Minister Władysław Bartoszewski was appointed chairman of the International Auschwitz Council (IAC) on Friday by Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz. Bartoszewski was also chairman of the IAC during its first term, which expired recently.
Marcinkiewicz will appoint the other 24 members of the Council, nominated by Bartoszewski, at a later date.
Bartoszewski reminisced about how he frequently had to contend during his first term with historical ignorance, and even the falsification of the Holocaust, in various circles around the world. He also stressed that the work of the Council had contributed to better knowledge about the fate of the people murdered in Auschwitz.
“The Council has marked out a significant position for itself on the world stage,” he said. “This is shown by such things as the recent ceremonies marking the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, organized in large part by the Council.”
Bartoszewski is a former Auschwitz prisoner and one of the founders of the clandestine Żegota organization, which aided Jews during the Nazi occupation.
Former Polish prime minister Jerzy Buzek established the International Auschwitz Council in January 2000. Its first term expired at the beginning of this year.
The Council is a consultative body advising the Polish prime minister on matters connected with protecting and utilizing the site of the Auschwitz Nazi camp and other concentration camp sites located within the present borders of Poland. The Council also raises funds for the functioning of the memorials, and issues opinions on related projects.
The IAC has 25 members from various countries—recognized authorities and experts on the history of World War II, the concentration camps, and the Holocaust. They serve 6-year terms. The Council’s administrative support is part of the Polish ministry of culture and national heritage.
A previous International Council of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, advisory and consultative in character, was established in 1990 by the minister of culture and art. Its mission was identical to that of the IAC, but concentrated on the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum.
