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History and Meaning of the Auschwitz Memorial and Museum

08.04.2025

Visitors walk past a display case at the Auschwitz Museum, where a large number of old suitcases and baskets are stacked – personal belongings of Holocaust victims, serving as a reminder of their arrival at the concentration camp. The scene conveys a quiet, contemplative moment in remembrance of history.

Auschwitz is not only a memorial and a historical site. As a symbol, it is also an essential part of our civilization. The word "Auschwitz" has become an allegory, a warning and a synonym for the decomposition of the human value system by an ideology of hatred. With the passing of the last eyewitnesses, the role of the authenticity and integral nature of the memorial site is growing.

The Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum arose on the former grounds of the camp in 1947 through the initiative of some of its survivors. Its aim is to preserve the original remains of the camp, commemorate the victims, and conduct research and education. The Auschwitz Museum is, alongside Yad Vashem in Israel and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the best known and preeminent institution in the world that covers the subject.

Today the Museum contains collections and archives, as well as a research, education, conservation and publishing center. It is one of the most visited historical sites and museums in Poland.

The Memorial covers an area of almost 500 acres, with more than 150 buildings and about 300 ruins, including those of the gas chambers and crematoria that the Germans detonated. The Memorial also holds numerous documents, objects that belonged to victims and perpetrators, and the world's largest collection of art devoted to Auschwitz.

Through Poland's initiative, it was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1979, under the condition that it would be the only camp on the list and serve as a symbol for other similar sites. In 2007, also due to Poland’s efforts, the title of the inscription became "Auschwitz-Birkenau. German Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp (1940-1945)".

The International Center for Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust carries out the educational mission of the Museum. The Center develops educational programs on the basis of the history and human experiences of Auschwitz in order to raise awareness and cultivate an attitude of responsibility in today's world.

The preservation of the Memorial's authenticity is made possible by the conservators, who have access to one of the world’s most advanced conservation laboratories. It was established in 2003 with the support of Ronald S. Lauder and has been developed ever since. Its latest additions are the physicochemical and molecular laboratory.

In 2009, a multi-annual conservation plan was designed. Its implementation is financed by the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation. Its task is to manage the Perpetual Fund. Ensuring the continuity of conservation efforts is vital to preserving the most tragic legacy of the twentieth century for future generations. So far 40 countries, several cities as well as a number of philanthropists have supported this part of the Memorial’s mission.

We must ensure that future generations will have the opportunity to witness the authentic site, which is not only a living testament to one of the greatest crimes in human history, but also a place of fundamental significance for the entire European civilization. In Auschwitz we can fully confront and address the most important questions about humanity, society, the toxic consequences of antisemitism, racial hatred, and contempt towards others.

Auschwitz Concentration Camp Memorial

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Memorial wall outdoors with numerous laminated portraits and short biographies of individuals who resisted or fell victim to National Socialism. The plaques are arranged in several rows on a wooden wall and display both historical black-and-white photos and recent color photos, some fastened with colored thumbtacks. The memorial wall is located in a wooded area.
17.04.2025 The Newly Founded Gunskirchen-Edt Memorial Initiative

The Gunskirchen concentration camp was a satellite camp of Mauthausen about which little was known for a long time; it existed only in the final months of the war and the events there were barely documented. Reports and photos from the liberators were the first and for many years the only evidence of the horrors in the "Hochholz" (high timber). In addition, there are no structural remains that would indicate the existence of the concentration camp.