Poland in the EU

In his speech Minister Czaputowicz pointed out that arbitrary disclosure of new archival documents concerning World War II makes it impossible to assess them in a reliable way. He added: “This proves that it is very important to call on everyone to make available all archival materials and to study them meticulously.”

In view of the Polish foreign policy chief, Russian president’s participation in the ceremony that will be held at the Yad Vashem Institute on 23 January 2020 may be considered as a way to legitimize Russia’s foreign policy and as acceptance of its interpretation of the causes and history of World War II.  He also reminded the participants of the meeting that due to the fact that President Andrzej Duda will not be given the opportunity to hold a speech at the Jerusalem ceremony, he will not attend the event in Israel.

“On 27 January 2020 Poland organizes the annual ceremony to mark the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp,” said Minister Czaputowicz. The event will be attended by many foreign delegations and most importantly, more than 200 former prisoners who survived Auschwitz. “The survivors will gather at the historic Auschwitz gate together with other participants. Their testimonies will be broadcast live all across the world,” stressed Minister Czaputowicz. He went on to say that preserving the memory of the Holocaust is our joint responsibility and Poland attaches great importance to it. “This responsibility should never cave in to attempts at reinterpreting history or the desire to achieve political goals,” added the Polish top diplomat.

Minister Czaputowicz also spoke about the necessity to take proper care of Holocaust memorial sites. He said: “The state and local museums such as Auschwitz-Birkenau, Majdanek and Bełżec, Sobibór, Treblinka, Kulmhof am Ner and Stutthof play a key role here. They are mostly financed by the Polish state and local communities.” He recalled that each year three and a half million people from all over the world visit the Holocaust memorial sites that are situated in the Polish territory, including more than two million visitors touring the former German Nazi death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau alone.

The participants of the IHRA meeting adopted a significantly political message in which they emphasized that remembering the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust is the responsibility not only of governments but of societies as a whole. The message pays tribute to all those who resisted the Nazis, honouring especially the Righteous among the Nations, and others who protected or sought to rescue those who were in danger. The declaration also underlines the importance of identifying, preserving and making available archival materials and testimonies for the purposes of education, remembrance and research.

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The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) was set up in 1998. Until 2013 it was called the Working Group for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research. The IHRA’s mandate is based on the Declaration of the Stockholm International Forum on the Holocaust, the so-called Stockholm Declaration. Its goal is to mobilize and coordinate support of political and social leaders for education, memory preservation, and scientific research on the Holocaust at national and international levels. In addition, the IHRA offers a forum for exchange of good practices, and its recommendations guide and inspire the member countries. Today, the IHRA has 34 member countries and eight observer countries, including one “liaison” country – North Macedonia. Poland joined the IHRA in 1999. It chaired its work from 1 March 2005 to 28 February 2006. The IHRA works through committees, working groups, and long-term projects.    

On 29 June 2017, the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) called on everyone to stop using defective codes of memory such as “Polish camps” and “Polish death camps” in publications and public narrative about Nazi Germany’s extermination of Jewish population in the territory of occupied Poland during World War II.