Chancellor Merkel together with Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki laid wreaths in the national colours of both countries in front of the Death Wall in the yard of block 11 to pay tribute to all victims of the camp. During the event marking the tenth anniversary of the Foundation, the heads of Polish and German governments delivered their addresses, in which they highlighted the need to preserve the memory of the victims of Nazi crimes.

“We are obliged to preserve this memory, because if it fades, then it is as though we wronged for the second time the people who went through hell here and endured unimaginable suffering,” said Prime Minister Morawiecki. He also cited Zofia Kossak-Szczucka, who said that those “who are passive in the face of evil, are in a way complicit in it.” On this occasion, the prime minister announced that Poland will make efforts to buy plots of land in the area of the former Gusen camp, in order to duly commemorate its victims.

“Auschwitz was a German death camp run by the Germans. It is important to stress it and to clearly name the perpetrators,” emphasised Chancellor Merkel. During her visit, the head of German government announced that Germany will donate EUR 60 million to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation. Foundation’s Perpetual Fund exists thanks to the support from countries from all over the world. Apart from Germany, the Foundation received funding from the United States, France and Austria, among others. The efforts to preserve the Memorial Site are also supported by numerous companies and individuals.

It is worth noting that the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage each year allocates close to PLN 70 million in earmarked and investment subsidies as well as other forms of funding for the maintenance of Extermination Memorials. Apart from permanent statutory actions by the Polish state, which have been carried out for several decades, in recent years, Polish authorities took a number of important decisions on investments to protect Jewish heritage in Poland. Our country undertakes a numerous initiatives and earmarks substantial funds from the state budget to commemorate the Jewish cultural heritage, the Holocaust and its victims. For example, in 2017-2018 alone, the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage spent PLN 287 million for this purpose.

Poland attaches great importance to the commemoration of the victims of genocide perpetrated by the German invaders on Polish lands during the Second World War. For over 70 years, our country has been taking care of the former German Nazi concentration camps, German Nazi death camps and other sites commemorating the victims of repressions.

Furthermore, following a motion put forward by Poland in reaction to distortions appearing in foreign media, suggesting or directly calling the former German Nazi camps “Polish death camps”, at the 31th meeting of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, on 27 June 2007, a decision was taken to change the official international name of the remains of the Auschwitz camp to “Auschwitz-Birkenau. German Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp (1940-1945).”

In October 2013, the endeavours of Polish diplomacy also resulted in the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) adopting a working definition of “Holocaust distortion and denial” according to which using the phrase “Polish camps” was branded one of forms of distortion. On the other hand, on 29 June 2017, the IHRA called to stop using defective memory codes such as “Polish camps” or “Polish death camps” in publications and public discourse on the extermination of Jewish people by the Nazi Germany on occupied Polish lands during the Second Word War.

 

MFA Press Office

Photo www.auschwitz.org