The seminar gathered embassy officials of the countries of the prisoners’ origin as well as representatives of former prisoners, International Advisory Board Mauthausen as well as the Ministry of Culture and National Herritage.

The subject of Wednesday‘s seminar organised at the Palmiry Memorial Site was the future of the grounds which in the years of the Second World War constituted a concentration camp in the Austrian town of Gusen. In his speach, Deputy Minister Szynkowski vel Sęk highlighted a couple of reasons why Gusen I and II camps are unique: it is due to the history during the war, lack of efforts to comemmorate the place in the post-war reality as well as its presence in the collective memory of many countries and communities. A touching testimony was provided by a former Mauthausen and Gusen prisoner and earlier a prisoner of of Pawiak and Auschwitz-Birkenau, Mr Stanisław Zalewski.

Poland, along with other countries of the victims‘ origin, organisations of former prisoners and their families, and in cooperation with Austrian authorities, has been consistently striving to pay a decent tribute to Gusen victims. A key step in this direction is, however, a purchase by the Austrian government of the grounds and properties – what remains today of the camp – from private owners and establishing a memorial site there. „I rely on your cooperation in order to honour the memory of KZ Gusen victims with dignity and save what has still been left,“ Secretary of State Szynkowski vel Sęk addressed the diplomats present at the seminar.

The activity of Polish authorities for the commemoration of former KZ Gusen is a sign of particular concern of the government of Poland to pay a worthy homage to all victims who met death in German Nazi concentration and death camps. Poland is involved in numerous international initiatives to keep the memory of such places alive. It is our priority to maintain them in a proper state as they are part of our European heritage.

“We attach great importance to bringing back remembrance of Gusen in a respectful manner. This remembrance must embrace all prisoners, of different nationalities they represented,” underlined the foreign deputy minister.

Gusen was one of the largest, outside present Poland’s borders, places of extermination of Polish intelligentsia, including Polish Jews and the Warsaw Uprising of 1944 soldiers. Tens of thousands of people from other European countries died there too: French, citizens of former Soviet Union, Spanish, Italian, Serbian, Slovenian, Bulgarian, Austrian, German, Belgian, Czech, Slovak,  Hungarian Jews, Dutch, Luxembourg or Albanian. This place is of special importance for Poland because of 34 000 prisoners of Polish origin, of whom 27 000 died. Thus, the number of representatives of Polish elites who died in Gusen can be compared to the number of Katyn massacre victims.

In May 2020 we will celebrate the 75. anniversary of liberating the Gusen camp, in which, according to the research to date, 44 000 prisoners lost their lives.

 

MFA Press Office

Photo Gabriel Piętka / MSZ