MODERN INFRASTRUCTURE
FROM ORANGE FOR
THE AUSCHWITZ MUSEUM
Thanks to the technological support of Orange Polska, the Auschwitz Museum will have modern infrastructure, providing high-speed, efficient internet access (5G/4G, fiber optic internet, and wireless) at the entire area of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum. This way, the facility will become even more accessible, also to those who cannot visit it in person. An agreement regarding this matter was signed on September 14 by Orange, the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, and the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation.
Thanks to that, remote education on the history of the German Nazi concentration and extermination camp from the authentic site of the Memorial offered to the entire world will be possible on an even larger scale.
“The essence of remembering is the big question about the future. For Europe and the entire world, Auschwitz-Birkenau as the Memorial became a reference point, a key to understand our experience and to build the vision of the 21st century free of antisemitism, racism, xenophobia, and other ideologies based on hatred”, said Director of the Museum, Dr. Piotr M. A. Cywiński.
“Without knowledge of the past, the world will be incomplete, deprived of tools that shape valuable ideas and behavior in people. That is why it is our duty to guard this knowledge, regardless of the country and place on the map. And technology has great power – it crosses borders. We are proud to participate in a project of such great, global significance. We support it because we assume responsibility for the future”, said Stéphane Richard, CEO Orange Group.
The Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial is the most visited museum of this type in the world. In the last year before the outbreak of the pandemic, it was visited by more than 2.3 million people from all around the world. In 2020, due to the pandemic and a long lockdown, the number of visitors dropped by five times.
This is why the Museum and the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation, in cooperation with Israel- based company AppsFlyer, will develop innovative tools that will offer millions of people access to education via, among others, virtual visits. Thanks to that, the Memorial and Museum and its heritage will become available to those who could not otherwise participate in such an experience.
“The Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation was established to protect the authenticity of the Auschwitz Memorial. This mission is supported by dozens of countries, local governments, companies, and private donors from all around the world. However, the pandemic showed how important it is to develop technologies that support the educational mission of the Museum at the global level”, said Wojciech Soczewica, Director General of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation.
“That is why, together with the leaders of modern mobile solutions, Appsflyer and Diskin, we have been working on appropriate tools for twelve months. However, if they are to work properly, there is a need for efficient internet access. I am glad that thanks to the partnership with Orange, we will be able to achieve this goal and show that remembering about this heritage, in its darkest hour, remains the responsibility of our generation”, he added.
Orange Polska will provide modern and efficient infrastructure (5G/4G, fiber optic internet, and wireless) at the entire area of the Auschwitz Memorial.
“I am proud that Orange Polska is a partner of this important project. Thanks to the activity of the Museum and the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation we can face and learn from this very painful chapter of history. We will work together to provide the best technology to this valuable initiative”, said Julien Ducarroz, Orange Polska CEO. “The pandemic that inspired this initiative also revealed inequality in the access to digital tools. We realize that as network number 1 in Poland, we can achieve a lot so we do our best to prevent exclusion. For me, this project represents exactly these values, respect, and inclusivity”, Julien Ducarroz emphasized.
The educational mission of the Museum is implemented by the International Center for Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust. The main area of activity of the Center are educational programs, based on the history and experience of Auschwitz, that are to raise awareness and shape attitudes of responsibility in the contemporary world. Most visitors get to know the history of Auschwitz thanks to guides-educators of the Museum who speak over 20 languages. Such a big choice of languages is a unique thing on a global scale. Visiting with an educator offers the chance to get to know the authentic post-camp space and the fate of its victims to the fullest possible extent.
Preservation of the authenticity of the Memorial and Museum has been supported by the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation since 2009. Its job is to create and manage the Perpetual Fund whose proceeds help finance the conservation of all Auschwitz remains for future generations.
Paweł Sawicki