MUSEUM WITH PODCAST ‘ON AUSCHWITZ’ NOMINATED FOR PODCAST OF THE YEAR AWARD
The Auschwitz Museum and our podcast "On Auschwitz" have been nominated for the Janusz Majka Podcast of the Year Award.
Paweł Sawicki, Auschwitz Memorial
"We are among the 22 podcasts nominated by the jury, which in itself is a huge distinction, as 324 podcasts were submitted to the competition," said Agnieszka Juskowiak-Sawicka, who heads the E-learning at the International Center for Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust and coordinates the podcast project.
The main theme of the "On Auschwitz" podcast is the history of the German Nazi concentration and extermination camp. Historians from the Museum Research Center and Archives discuss various aspects of the camp's operation and present the results of new research. It is also a place for reflection on the memory of this tragic place. More than 50 episodes have been published so far.
In the Podcast of the Year competition, the Museum was nominated in the category of sponsoring brand / commissioning a podcast.
"In a way, this shows how difficult it is to qualify what we do. We take it as an acknowledgment, not for a single podcast but for the entire project. Two versions are being prepared at the same time – Polish and English, all produced by our team. Over the past two years, we have managed to build a technical background that allows for radio-quality podcast production within the Museum. So, in a sense, we commission but also produce the podcast," said Bartosz Bartyzel, the Spokesman of the Museum.
"We started with a simple recorder and clip-on microphones. We had to use a small cinema hall for recording because it was the only relatively soundproof place in the Museum. However, we had to set up all the equipment each time. Now we are finishing building our own studio, which has a professional mixer, microphones, and proper soundproofing, which is certainly not a typical activity in the world of museums. We also managed to build a team of volunteers who help prepare the English version of the podcast, especially when it comes to voiceover recordings," emphasized Agnieszka Juskowiak-Sawicka.
Our podcast also participates in the 2024 Audience Award competition. Everyone can vote on this website: https://podcastroku.pl/nagrodapublicznosci/
"For us, the 'On Auschwitz' podcast is not just another form of education about the history of the camp. It is also a new way to shape memory and commemorate the victims. We encourage everyone for whom the memory of Auschwitz is important to support our project with their vote. Engagement of our listeners by rating and commenting on various platforms where the podcast is published is just as important. Algorithms can make it more visible and reach a wider audience. All this contributes to the preservation of memory," stressed Bartosz Bartyzel.
According to the Listen Notes portal, the English version of the podcast is among the top one percent of the most popular podcasts in the world. Statistics from the podcasters' service run by Spotify show that on major podcast platforms, the number of plays for both the English and Polish versions has already exceeded 600 thousand for each of them.
"We also publish all podcasts on our YouTube channel. The Polish-language podcast is very popular there, having already recorded over one million plays. Meanwhile, the English versions have the official transcripts uploaded, allowing users to use automatic subtitle translation into virtually any language. This way, the podcast also reaches those who cannot use the Polish or English version," said Agnieszka Juskowiak-Sawicka.
The "On Auschwitz" podcast is available on the following platforms:
Additionally, with the hearing impaired in mind, we provide 37 episodes of the "On Auschwitz" podcast translated into Polish Sign Language and Sign Language System. The audio materials have been prepared as video recordings with a sign language interpreter. This makes discussions about the details of the camp's history accessible to a new group, those with hearing impairments. More episodes will be available soon.
The Podcast of the Year is the first national competition in Poland aimed at promoting quality, originality, and cultural communication of various audio forms in digital media. The competition commemorates Janusz Majka, who was associated with Polish Radio in Rzeszów for nearly 40 years and died in February 2021 from COVID-19. The competition promotes high journalistic standards and successful debuts in online media.
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