The meeting was attended, among others, by former Auschwitz prisoner Janina Iwańska, Deputy Minister of Culture and National Heritage Jarosław Sellin, representatives of the Foundation's donor countries and members of its International Committee, members of the Council, Board and Financial Committee of the Foundation, as well as employees of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation, the Auschwitz Museum, and the Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute, whose director, Prof. Paweł Śpiewak welcomed all those present at the meeting.
After his welcome address, former Auschwitz prisoner Janina Iwańska took the floor. ‘Today at the Memorial, we can see crowds of people, dozens of guides, with whom I also met. They meticulously tell us about the history of Auschwitz. The Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation has done a great deal and is worthy of the greatest praise and respect because it is only recently that I have seen how many people visit the memorial and how interested young people are. It is important not only as a remembrance but also as a warning because times are bad. People have to realise what a person can do to a fellow human,’ she said.
“The sense of responsibility for the present and future generations requires not only the preservation of historical memory but also the protection of material, silent witnesses to the tragic events that took place in this extermination camp. Memory does not serve the purpose of scratching wounds, but to draw conclusions from the past for the sake of prosperity. The barracks, crematoria, and gas chambers that can be seen today in Auschwitz-Birkenau are a significant challenge for us to respond to violence ‘built on hatred and contempt for man in the name of a deranged ideology’ - as St. John Paul II said 40 years ago” - wrote Cardinal Pietro Parolin,
Auschwitz survivor Janina Iwańska with the Chairman of the Foundation's Countil Marek Zając. Fot. Leszek Tomaszewski