44TH SESSION OF THE INTERNATIONAL AUSCHWITZ COUNCIL
Auschwitz Memorial
Dr Piotr M. A. Cywiński, Director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum, presented the Council members with a report on the most important events and activities carried out at the Memorial since the previous meeting.
Among the significant events, he mentioned the commemoration of the 86th anniversary of the deportation of the first Poles to Auschwitz, which on 14 June was disrupted by individuals attempting to turn the ceremony into a political demonstration. As
a result, the Museum is considering changes to the organization of future commemorations in order to ensure that they proceed in a dignified and safe manner.
The Director also spoke about the anniversary of the liquidation by the Germans of the family camp for Roma and Sinti in Auschwitz II-Birkenau. “These commemorations are becoming increasingly extensive. We can see that more and more young people are taking part, and that representatives of increasingly high political rank are also attending. It has taken years, indeed decades, for participation in these commemorations to become a permanent part of the calendar of important remembrance events,” he emphasized.
An important theme of his presentation was the protection of historical documents connected with German Nazi concentration camps and the Holocaust. The Director recalled the actions taken following an attempt to auction in Germany a collection of more than 700 documents from the Second World War. Thanks to cooperation between the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation, German institutions and donors, a significant part of the collection was secured. Documents relating to other camps, ghettos and sites of persecution are to be transferred free of charge to the appropriate memorial institutions.
“If a document ends up in private hands, then in reality that person and their fate are placed outside the broader history. In a sense, it is as if the person were being put away in a drawer. I believe that situations in which we can show just how much these documents enrich the archives of memorial institutions should be publicized strongly, so as to help create a certain ethical imperative among as many people as possible,” Piotr Cywiński said.
One of the issues presented during the meeting concerned seven watercolor representation of faces of Roma and Sinti created in Auschwitz by prisoner Dina Gottliebová-Babbitt on the orders of SS physician Josef Mengele. According to media reports, the daughters of the late Survivor have brought legal action in California seeking the return of the original works. The Museum is preparing for legal proceedings, stressing that the portraits constitute unique documentation of crimes committed in the camp.
“Very few documents concerning the tragedy of the Roma family camp have survived. These portraits are among the most important of them,” the Director emphasized. He also recalled that the International Auschwitz Council had already adopted an unequivocal position on the matter in 2001. He pointed to the particular authority of the Council at that time, which included numerous Auschwitz Survivors.
Speaking about contemporary challenges connected with the protection of memory, the Director drew attention to growing concerns among many European memorial sites about their future, particularly in the context of political change and possible funding restrictions.
“In some countries, there is growing fear that what we have managed to build since the 1990s, a certain coherent narrative, a policy of cooperation and joint action, may change as a result of these political developments. We also wanted to give a voice to smaller memorial sites that do not have the same influence on public opinion,” Director Cywiński said. “The fact that remembrance and commemorative policy developed differently in different countries does not change the fact that this is part of the same history. We cannot allow politics to divide us now,” he added.
The Director also presented the results of the “Picture from Auschwitz” project, whose aim is to make a digital reconstruction of the authentic space of the former camp available to filmmakers, while maintaining the principles of protecting the Memorial and historical accuracy. The first production made using this solution is the feature film Block 10, presented in July at the Munich Film Festival.
Among archival projects, Piotr Cywiński mentioned work begun in cooperation with Google and other partners on the digitization of testimonies by Auschwitz Survivors. In cooperation with Google, work is also underway on the digital documentation of more than four thousand works of art held in the Museum collections. High-resolution scans will enable detailed research and broader access.
A substantial part of the report was devoted to preservation work. The Director presented, among other things, progress in safeguarding historic brick barracks at the former Auschwitz II-Birkenau camp. Around one third of the
On 21 October 2026, the 44th meeting of the International Auschwitz Council was held at the Chancellery of the Prime Minister in Warsaw. Among those attending was Minister of Culture and National Heritage Marta Cienkowska. The meeting was chaired
by Prof. Dariusz Stola.
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