About the challenges:
“This place exists. If the institution of the museum was founded, that was done so in order for this place to exist. And this ontology is something quite essential, although it defies the logic of time, because some places have been smoothed away into nothing. There are not many historical sites of murders; all of them disappear after some time. So if we want to be in any way responsible for this repository, then above all we have to fight its tendency to disappear. After all, this is a process that begins with the disappearance of the historical substance itself, for example, by the contamination of the landscape. Although these are very complex issues, they are somehow justified, that is, they are natural and normal. And it’s endurance, existence, that is absolutely the top priority. Everything else can be up for discussion.”
About the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation:
“There’s no other project in the world, no such place defined as important, a UNESCO World Heritage site etc., which has such a fund behind it; of international provenance, inviolable, secure, unthreatened by any political or other movements. The Foundation is such a good solution because it is strongly independent, and secondly, it is strongly definable in its statutes. Everything else can be easily changed—any law can be replaced by voting through another one on any evening; but statutory changes are much harder—they require consultation, collective decisions and so on. As guarantees of security, we listed even more guarantees: any changes to the foundation’s statutory aims must be communicated to all the donor states to the fund, that’s 40 different governments”.
About the metaphysics of his mission:
“What in my opinion is the limit? It’s metaphysical in nature. I’m sorry that I’m resorting to an answer that eludes political discourse, but after living for as long as possible, I will die sometime, and I will knock on those doors, and I will come (I hope) through that gate; and there, I suspect, that 1.3 million very curious people will be waiting and will look me straight in the eye. Why? Because in some way I’m responsible for the memory of them, and for making some kind of sense out of the senselessness which they encountered. They will be curious at my coming and, apart from my immediate family, they will probably be the first natural people whom I will meet there. I’d love to be able to meet the gaze of those 1.3 million people, that is, not to lower my eyes with shame, because that will be the most important final settlement.”
The interview is complemented with paper concerning the current structure and activities of the Museum. It describes the activities, structures and tasks of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, one of the most important remembrance institutions and the most important Holocaust Memorial in Poland. The short outline of the camp’s wartime history is followed by sections concerning the post-war site’s use and commemoration, the forming of the Museum, concepts of its shape, and contemporary challenges to its activities. The selected Museum’s structures were discussed: the archives, exhibitions, research, collections, conservation and visitor services departments.