LEGION OF HONOUR
FOR DIRECTOR
OF AUSCHWITZ MEMORIAL
Paweł Sawicki
Dr. Piotr M. A. Cywiński, Director of the Auschwitz Museum, was bestowed the Legion of Honour, the highest French order of merit. The ceremony took place on January 17th at the Embassy of France in Warsaw.
While bestowing the award Pierre Lévy, the Ambassador of France in Poland, said: “You are a humanist whose voice is heard in France. You face difficult discussions concerning the issue of memory. You work tirelessly in favor of preserving the authenticity of testimony of the place to which growing numbers of visitors come every year. Last survivors are leaving us. Your mission has now become increasingly demanding, as the history is slowly fading away, when oblivion, ignorance, indifference or negation may prevail. Let us prevent the appearance of the intellectual void, where the evil hides”.
“Awarding you with the Legion of Honour has noble and beautiful significance. The French Republic fully identifies with your commitment. The fight against racism, antisemitism and xenophobia occupies a central place among the values that France follows, together with the fight for human rights and for Europe”, he emphasized
In the special letter addressed to the participants of the ceremony of consigning the insignia of the Chevalier of the Legion of Honour Jarosław Sellin, Deputy Minister of Culture and National Heritage, wrote: “Piotr Cywiński not only made it possible for two million people to visit the Museum every year. He has also created the place considered by international experts as a model, respecting highest commemoration standards, expressing the rules of authenticity, preserving the integrality of artifacts and archive collections as well as international cooperation, according to best practices of UNESCO, which in 1979 inscribed Auschwitz-Birkenau on world heritage list”. dostrzeżone przez międzynarodowych ekspertów jako wzorcowe, o najwyższych standardach dbania o pamięć, wyrażające zasady autentyzmu, zachowania integralności artefaktów i zbiorów archiwalnych oraz współpracy międzynarodowej, zgodne z najlepszymi praktykami UNESCO, które w 1979 r. wpisało Auschwitz-Birkenau na listę światowego dziedzictwa”.