THE ADDRESS OF DR. PIOTR M. A. CYWIŃSKI
DURING THE 79th ANNIVERSARY OF THE LIBERATION OF AUSCHWITZ
We stand here with you, dear ones, on the 79th anniversary of the liberation.
One of the most challenging anniversaries to observe.
Just as we have stood here for years to give a sign of our memory.
We believed in a world that is more just,
more friendly and more humane.
In a world to be founded on human rights.
We believed in memory while living in the post-war era.
Today, we are witnessing a complete shift in the world as we know it;
we are all standing at a significant turning point in history.
Currently, some liberators attack other liberators. They commit acts of rape and murder.
In Israel, the land of the Shoah survivors,
peace seems to be nowhere in sight.
Conflicts and wars have flared up on a global scale.
Today, the international security system created after the war is a mere shadow of itself.
Europe has been unable to unite its efforts and protect itself
against the return of antisemitism, racism, xenophobia...
That irrational and cursed fear of all that is different.
And yet, we know that only a weak identity fears otherness and diversity.
Values that became the foundation of the rebuilt world after the war:
peace, openness, dialogue, interdependence, solidarity, subsidiarity...
are weakening in the face of fear and indifference,
withering in the face of new gusts of populism and demagogy.
Perhaps we are currently witnessing the end of the post-war era.
Today, we are standing by the barracks of the women's camp.
A barracks where thousands of women were incarcerated,
among them Halina Birenbaum, who is here today.
This barracks has been painstakingly preserved.
But memory cannot be simply preserved.
It is an element torn by the winds of history.
Memory is always polyphonic.
And ultimately, each generation will live its memory.
It will look for keys to its problems, challenges, and threats in its memory.
However, the values that memory carries remain unchanged.
Because memory and historical knowledge are not synonymous.
Memory is identity. Roots and wings simultaneously.
The key to human choices.
And only when understood as such can it carry the message of values beyond generations.
The memory of such extreme dehumanization acts as a compass for the entirety of humankind,
particularly in difficult times and at the moments of choice.
Next year, we will be commemorating the 80th anniversary.
We will stand here together again.
Will it still be a commemoration in the shadow of so many wars?
Will we still be able to lift our eyes and look
into those faces from the past?
Acknowledging that the post-war period has not faded into oblivion,
the constructed post-war identity is a constant reminder, amplifying its warnings.
As the times become more complex,
it is crucial to recognise the complete inseparability of memory and identity.
We may have difficulty predicting the future.
However, its creation begins with the choices made today,
by each of us.