AUSCHWITZ-BIRKENAU

The conservation project has been completed on securing the northern and western wall of the ruins of the gas chamber and crematorium III undressing rooms on the site of the former Auschwitz II-Birkenau camp. The works were financed with funds from the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation.

73 years ago, on the night of 2 to 3 August 1944, the Germans liquidated the so-called family camp for Gypsies (Zigeunerfamilienlager) in Auschwitz II Birkenau. At that time, nearly 3 thousand children, women and men the last Roma prisoners of the camp were murdered in the gas chambers. In connection with these tragic events, August 2 is commemorated as the Roma and Sinti Genocide Remembrance Day.

On the 73rd anniversary of the outbreak of the Warsaw Uprising, the director of the Museum Dr. Piotr M. A. Cywiński paid tribute to its heroes and victims – including the nearly 13,000 residents of the capital deported by the Germans to the Auschwitz camp. At exactly 17:00 – i.e. the „W” hour commencing the insurrectionary fights, he laid a wreath at the Death Wall in the courtyard of Block 11 at the premises of the former Auschwitz 1 camp.

For the first time, 72 years after the liberation of Auschwitz, a travelling exhibition dedicated to the camp and its historical meaning has been created. It will visit 14 cities around the world, 7 in Europe and 7 storyin North America, bringing its history closer to millions of people.

The More I Know the Less I Understand is a joint publication of International Centre for Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust and The University of British Columbia in Vancouver, which includes selected essays of students who participated in three editions of the research seminar “Witnessing Auschwitz – Conflicting Stories and Memories” organised by the Auschwitz Memorial.

Zhang Dejiang, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and the Chinese delegation visited the Auschwitz Memorial and Museum on Saturday 15 July 2017.