A NEW PERSPECTIVE FOR EDUCATION AT THE MEMORIAL
Paweł Sawicki
The project for the conversion of the historical building of the so-called Old Theatre into the new seat of the International Center for Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust was officially completed on 3 October after several years of efforts and more than two years of construction and conservation work.
The new headquarters will house among others, a modern auditorium for nearly 200 people, multimedia lecture halls, an exhibition space, a library with a reading room, and work stations for independent research work.
The ceremonial presentation of the building was attended by Paulina Florianowicz, director of the Department of Cultural Heritage at the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, representatives of the Council of the ICEAH, management and employees of the Auschwitz Museum, representatives of the design and conversion contractors and many others. Dr. Piotr Setkiewicz, the head of the Research Center of the Auschwitz Memorial, gave a lecture on the history of the building.
‘The new building is a perfect illustration of the message written by survivors and former prisoners of Auschwitz on the pages of the 2005 ICEAH Act of Foundation, as well as our educational triad - Remembrance, Awareness, Responsibility. These words guide us now and will continue to guide our activities in the future,” said Andrzej Kacorzyk, the director of the International Centrer for Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust.
‘Remembrance is embodied in authentic historical elements visible in the entire building. The perspective of barbed wire, the death block, and other prisoner barracks will not lead to the loss of Awareness regarding the events that transpired in Auschwitz. We want to demonstrate responsibility through our work and projects aimed at changing those who will visit us. We want to share our concern for our contemporary society responsibly. We want to stimulate to action, draw attention to the need to react to evil, violence, hatred, antisemitism, prejudice, and intolerance,’ emphasized Andrzej Kacorzyk.
The deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Culture and National Heritage, Prof. Piotr Gliński, addressed the director of the Auschwitz Museum and all employees of the International Center for Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust in a special letter: “I would like to offer my sincere thanks to you for your commitment to the mission of preserving memory, deepening and transferring knowledge in order to protect the world from the mechanisms of hatred and contempt for fellow humans. Today, we need preachers of truth who can prevent new threats through the spirit of cooperation”.
All pictures in this article: Marek Lach