Below you can find the statement of Dr. Piotr M. A. Cywiński, the director of the Auschwitz Memorial and Museum, on the comment made by Grzegorz Braun, a member of the European Parliament.
it is a good thing you speak out against the denial of the Holocaust. Because indeed, as you write, the memorial is there “to serve as a warning and reminder of where human hatred can lead”.
That signal becomes so much more powerful if you not only speak out against people denying the past, but also against developments in the present. So-called democracies have failed before in the 1930s, but are failing again today. With mass-murder and mass-incarceration…
All denial of the #Holocaust must be condemned in the strongest possible terms. Thanks a lot for your essential work of #remembrance, passing on the survivors‘ accounts to new generations and contradicting current #disinformation inspired by #hatred only.
"Separate responsibility lies with the media, who hand microphones or cameras to a man who has repeatedly demonstrated that he is incapable of functioning in public life without vandalism, lies, hate speech, and racism. We appeal to the community of journalists to show solidarity in refraining from inviting him to interviews, conversations, and their programs. The media must not be used as a platform for spreading a deliberate lie that causes pain to so many."
That not only applies to Grzegorz Braun, but also to Benjamin Netanyahu (and to others in Israels genocidal government, including Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir).
Holocaust denial is unacceptable. My last name can be found a lot in victims.auschwitz.org/victims?… (my grandfather was a Jew).
But so is the denial of genocide on the Palestinian people, whose land was stolen by colonists - Jews who were and are not even prepared to share and live in peace (the "war" started
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wrote:
"Separate responsibility lies with the media, who hand microphones or cameras to a man who has repeatedly demonstrated that he is incapable of functioning in public life without vandalism, lies, hate speech, and racism. We appeal to the community of journalists to show solidarity in refraining from inviting him to interviews, conversations, and their programs. The media must not be used as a platform for spreading a deliberate lie that causes pain to so many."
That not only applies to Grzegorz Braun, but also to Benjamin Netanyahu (and to others in Israels genocidal government, including Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir).
Holocaust denial is unacceptable. My last name can be found a lot in victims.auschwitz.org/victims?… (my grandfather was a Jew).
But so is the denial of genocide on the Palestinian people, whose land was stolen by colonists - Jews who were and are not even prepared to share and live in peace (the "war" started many decades before Oct. 7, 2023).
"This act of barbarity will be judged by history, and its perpetrators, it is to be hoped, also by the International Court of Justice."
Why would that not apply to Benjamin Netanyahu and friends?
When will you retract your resolution at the bottom of auschwitz.org/en/museum/auschw… (shown below) and publicly condemn the atrocities committed by Israeli's in Gaza and the Westbank?
Or will you remain silent - even when Gazans are forced to "choose" between a certain death and being locked up in concentration camp Rafah - which they may only leave (to never return) if another country permits them entry?
The Israeli army has carried out over 26 massacres in less than 48 hours, killing more than 300 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip, the local Government Media Office said on Thursday.
Reposting the original text from Twitter here for #accessability for people using a #screenreader, and simply because I dislike text-only screenshots.
STATEMENT OF @AuschwitzMuseum DIRECTOR DR. PIOTR M. A. CYWIŃSKI ON THE COMMENT MADE BY GRZEGORZ BRAUN, MEMBER OF EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
A scandalous and deceitful statement by Member of the European Parliament Grzegorz Braun, in which he denies the existence of gas chambers at the Auschwitz camp, is not only an act of Holocaust denial – a crime prosecuted under Polish law. It is also an act of desecration of the memory of the victims of the German Nazi concentration and extermination camp, and an expression of contempt toward Survivors and their families.
The main group of victims of gas chambers at Auschwitz were Jews – those deemed unfit for work by SS doctors immediately upon deportation to the camp. However, the gas chambers were also used as a too
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Reposting the original text from Twitter here for #accessability for people using a #screenreader, and simply because I dislike text-only screenshots.
STATEMENT OF @AuschwitzMuseum DIRECTOR DR. PIOTR M. A. CYWIŃSKI ON THE COMMENT MADE BY GRZEGORZ BRAUN, MEMBER OF EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
A scandalous and deceitful statement by Member of the European Parliament Grzegorz Braun, in which he denies the existence of gas chambers at the Auschwitz camp, is not only an act of Holocaust denial – a crime prosecuted under Polish law. It is also an act of desecration of the memory of the victims of the German Nazi concentration and extermination camp, and an expression of contempt toward Survivors and their families.
The main group of victims of gas chambers at Auschwitz were Jews – those deemed unfit for work by SS doctors immediately upon deportation to the camp. However, the gas chambers were also used as a tool for killing various other groups of prisoners. In the first mass execution using Zyklon B, carried out by the SS in September 1941 and serving as a prelude to the later mass extermination of Jews, a large group of Soviet prisoners of war and Polish prisoners selected from the camp hospital were murdered. SS men also used the gas chambers to kill sick or severely weakened prisoners selected from among all those incarcerated in the camp. It was in the gas chamber at Auschwitz II-Birkenau that over four thousand Roma – primarily women and children – were murdered during the liquidation of the so-called Zigeunerlager in August 1944. Grzegorz Braun’s statement is a disgraceful assault on the memory of all those people: Jews, Poles, Roma, Soviet prisoners of war, and all other victims. It is also a slap in the face to those prisoners who risked their lives to document and convey the truth about German crimes, as well as to the Survivors who still bear the trauma of their personal experiences.
Grzegorz Braun’s statement constitutes a blatant denial of historical truth and introduces manipulation into public discourse based on antisemitism, falsehood, and hatred. It is a statement unworthy not only of a public figure – in this case, a person holding a seat in the European Parliament. It is simply a shameful statement. There can be no place for such words in political, media, or social space.
We firmly reject the absurd claims that the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum “blocks research” or “offers a pseudo-historical narrative that does not meet the criteria of scholarly historical methodology.” This is slander that damages the reputation of our institution and of the entire community of individuals researching the history of Auschwitz. In response to this statement, a lawsuit for defamation will be filed. We emphasize with full force: denying the existence of gas chambers is not only an expression of antisemitism and an ideology of hatred – in Poland it is also a crime. In this matter, a formal notification will be immediately submitted to the public prosecutor’s office.
Separate responsibility lies with the media, who hand microphones or cameras to a man who has repeatedly demonstrated that he is incapable of functioning in public life without vandalism, lies, hate speech, and racism. We appeal to the community of journalists to show solidarity in refraining from inviting him to interviews, conversations, and their programs. The media must not be used as a platform for spreading a deliberate lie that causes pain to so many.
The Museum is currently working on a new online tool, which we hope to launch as early as July, that will enable every internet user to fight more effectively against all forms of Holocaust denial.
The German Nazi concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz was a site of industrial murder, where approximately 1.1 million people were murdered. Today, the Memorial is preserved thanks to the efforts of the Polish state and the international community – to serve as a warning and reminder of where human hatred can lead. The words of Grzegorz Braun are not a “political provocation,” but a conscious lie and an act of ideological, antisemitic hatred. They cannot remain without a resolute response from the state and from all decent people, for whom the memory of Auschwitz holds profound meaning.
Erik
in reply to Auschwitz Memorial • • •Felix
in reply to Auschwitz Memorial • • •Christiaan Jacobs
in reply to Auschwitz Memorial • • •it is a good thing you speak out against the denial of the Holocaust. Because indeed, as you write, the memorial is there “to serve as a warning and reminder of where human hatred can lead”.
That signal becomes so much more powerful if you not only speak out against people denying the past, but also against developments in the present. So-called democracies have failed before in the 1930s, but are failing again today. With mass-murder and mass-incarceration…
Fietsbel
in reply to Auschwitz Memorial • • •ErikvanStraten
in reply to Auschwitz Memorial • • •wrote:
"Separate responsibility lies with the media, who hand microphones or cameras to a man who has repeatedly demonstrated that he is incapable of functioning in public life without vandalism, lies, hate speech, and racism. We appeal to the community of journalists to show solidarity in refraining from inviting him to interviews, conversations, and their programs. The media must not be used as a platform for spreading a deliberate lie that causes pain to so many."
That not only applies to Grzegorz Braun, but also to Benjamin Netanyahu (and to others in Israels genocidal government, including Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir).
Holocaust denial is unacceptable. My last name can be found a lot in victims.auschwitz.org/victims?… (my grandfather was a Jew).
But so is the denial of genocide on the Palestinian people, whose land was stolen by colonists - Jews who were and are not even prepared to share and live in peace (the "war" started
... show morewrote:
"Separate responsibility lies with the media, who hand microphones or cameras to a man who has repeatedly demonstrated that he is incapable of functioning in public life without vandalism, lies, hate speech, and racism. We appeal to the community of journalists to show solidarity in refraining from inviting him to interviews, conversations, and their programs. The media must not be used as a platform for spreading a deliberate lie that causes pain to so many."
That not only applies to Grzegorz Braun, but also to Benjamin Netanyahu (and to others in Israels genocidal government, including Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir).
Holocaust denial is unacceptable. My last name can be found a lot in victims.auschwitz.org/victims?… (my grandfather was a Jew).
But so is the denial of genocide on the Palestinian people, whose land was stolen by colonists - Jews who were and are not even prepared to share and live in peace (the "war" started many decades before Oct. 7, 2023).
In x.com/AuschwitzMuseum/status/1… you wrote:
"This act of barbarity will be judged by history, and its perpetrators, it is to be hoped, also by the International Court of Justice."
Why would that not apply to Benjamin Netanyahu and friends?
When will you retract your resolution at the bottom of auschwitz.org/en/museum/auschw… (shown below) and publicly condemn the atrocities committed by Israeli's in Gaza and the Westbank?
Or will you remain silent - even when Gazans are forced to "choose" between a certain death and being locked up in concentration camp Rafah - which they may only leave (to never return) if another country permits them entry?
(Edited to add, previous toot in this series: infosec.exchange/@ErikvanStrat…).
#ConcentrationCampRafah #Gaza #Westbank #FrancescaAlbaneseIsRight #AvnerShalevIsWrong #NetanyahuWarCriminal #Auschwitz #AuschwitzZionists #GazaGenocide #EthnicCleansing #ConcentrationCampGaza #WestbankConcentrationCamps
The International Auschwitz Council / Museum / Auschwitz-Birkenau
www.auschwitz.orgErikvanStraten
2025-07-03 15:03:26
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Hirilonde
in reply to Auschwitz Memorial • •Reposting the original text from Twitter here for #accessability for people using a #screenreader, and simply because I dislike text-only screenshots.
... show moreReposting the original text from Twitter here for #accessability for people using a #screenreader, and simply because I dislike text-only screenshots.
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