New main exhibition planned for Auschwitz

''The preparation of an exhibition which is modern, accessible and at the same time tells the history of Auschwitz in a wise and balanced way, will be a key educational tool in providing future generations of Poles with a proper understanding of what the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp was,'' the minister said.

Owing to the need to carry out extensive renovation work at the former death camp, the changes will be staggered over a period of 11 years.

The new exhibition will spread across six blocks of the Auschwitz I camp, and it will be divided into three parts.

The first section will focus on the German perpetrators, and the organisation of the camp, as well how the site was converted into a place of extermination with gas chambers. The second section will explore the Holocaust from the perspective of the victims, and the third will focus on prisoners of all nationalities.

Besides the main exhibition, twelve separate exhibitions currently tell the story of nations victimised at Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Restoration works at the museum are being partly funded by the EU.

It is estimated that around 1.1 million people died at the combined camps of Auschwitz-Birkenau. The vast majority of those that perished were Jews, but victims included ethnic Poles, Roma and Soviet POWs, among others. (nh)

Source: mkidn.gov.pl