“While commemorating the victims of Auschwitz we should also feel moral discomfort. Antisemitic, hateful, xenophobic ideologies that in the past led to the human catastrophe of Auschwitz, seem not to be erased from our lives today. That is why studying the Holocaust shouldn't be limited to history classes. It must become part of curricula of political and civic education, ethics, media, and religious studies. This exhibition is one of the tools we can use,” said Dr. Piotr M. A. Cywiński, Director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum.
“Six million Jews were murdered and Jewish ways of life were nearly stamped out forever. Documented facts of this history, original records and photographs, and witnesses’ accounts are our strongest answers to those who deny or minimize the Holocaust. We must ensure that the horrors of the Holocaust are not lost to fading memories,” said Michael S. Glickman, President & CEO of the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust. “Learning the history of the Holocaust as a history of individuals is an act of resistance. The Museum will present this groundbreaking exhibition to ensure that we mobilize the painful lessons of the past to create a world worthy of our children’s futures.”
“Seventy-three years ago, after the world saw the haunting pictures from Auschwitz, no one in their right mind wanted to be associated with Nazis. But today, 73 years and three generations later, people have forgotten, or they never knew,” said Ron Lauder, Founder and Chairman of the The Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation Committee and President of the World Jewish Congress. “This exhibit reminds them, in the starkest ways, where anti- Semitism can ultimately lead and the world should never go there again. The title of this exhibit is so appropriate because this was not so long ago, and not so far away.”
Securing and packing objects for the exhibition. Photo: Marek Lach