Auschwitz concentration camp

:For other uses of the term, see Auschwitz (disambiguation).

After the war

After the war, Auschwitz remained in a state of disrepair for several years.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Buna Werke were taken over by the Polish government and became the foundation for the chemical industry of the region.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Polish government then decided to restore Auschwitz I and turn it into a museum honoring the victims of nazism; Auschwitz II, where buildings were prone to decay, was preserved but not restored. Today, the Auschwitz I museum site combines elements from several periods into a single complex: for example the gas chamber at Auschwitz I (which did not exist by the war's end) was restored and the fence was moved (because of building being done after the war but before the establishment of the museum). However, in most cases the departure from the historical truth is minor, and is clearly labelled.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Auschwitz II and the remains of the gas chambers there are also open to the public. The Auschwitz concentration camp is part of the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites.

Related Topics:
UNESCO - World Heritage Sites

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 1979, the newly elected Polish Pope John Paul II celebrated Mass on the grounds of Auschwitz II to some 500,000 people. After the pope had announced that Edith Stein would be beatified, some Catholics erected a cross near bunker 2 of Auschwitz II where she had been gassed. A short while later, a Star of David appeared at the site, leading to a proliferation of religious symbols there; eventually they were removed.

Related Topics:
1979 - Pope John Paul II - Edith Stein - Beatified

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Carmelite nuns opened a convent near Auschwitz I in 1984. After some Jewish groups called for the removal of the convent, representatives of the Catholic Church agreed in 1987. One year later the Carmelites erected the 8 m (26 ft) tall cross from the 1979 mass near their site, just outside block 11 and barely visible from within the camp. This led to protests by Jewish groups, who said that mostly Jews were killed at Auschwitz and demanded that religious symbols be kept away from the site. Some Catholics have pointed out that the people killed in Auschwitz I were mainly Polish Catholics. The Catholic Church told the Carmelites to move by 1989, but they stayed on until 1993, leaving the large cross behind. In 1998, after further calls to remove the cross, some 300 smaller crosses were erected by local activists near the large one, leading to further protests and heated exchanges. Following an agreement between the Polish Catholic Church and the Polish government, the smaller crosses were removed in 1999 but the large papal one remains. See Auschwitz cross for more details.

Related Topics:
Carmelite nun - Auschwitz cross

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 1996, Germany made 27 January, the day of the liberation of Auschwitz, the official day for the commemoration of the victims of 'National Socialism'.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The European Parliament marked the anniversary of the camp's liberation in 2005 with a minute of silence and the passage of this resolution:

Related Topics:
European Parliament - 2005

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"27 January 2005, the sixtieth anniversary of the liberation of Nazi Germany's death camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau, where a combined total of up to 1.5 million Jews, Roma, Poles, Russians and prisoners of various other nationalities, and homosexuals, were murdered, is not only a major occasion for European citizens to remember and condemn the enormous horror and tragedy of the Holocaust, but also for addressing the disturbing rise in anti-semitism, and especially anti‑semitic incidents, in Europe, and for learning anew the wider lessons about the dangers of victimising people on the basis of race, ethnic origin, religion, social classification, politics or sexual orientation."

Related Topics:
27 January - 2005 - Nazi Germany - Jews - Roma - Poles - Russians - Homosexuals - Anti-semitism - Race - Ethnic origin - Religion - Politics

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Other Controversies

Some authors, usually sympathetic to Holocaust denial, have criticised what they claim as historical inaccuracies promoted by the Polish government on the subject of Auschwitz, namely that the communist Polish government used to cite numbers of 4 million murders in Auschwitz, and that the numbers have been steadily revised downwards for decades to its present number. The death toll as promoted by the communist government, however, has never been part of the calculation of the total deaths of the Holocaust by scholars, so these changes in the Polish estimates of the number of murders at the camp has not impacted the estimates of the total deaths in the Holocaust.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Recently the Polish media and the foreign ministry of Poland have voiced objections to the use of the expression "Polish death camp" in relation to Auschwitz, as they feel that phrase might misleadingly suggest that Poles (rather than Germans) perpetrated the Holocaust. Most media outlets now show awareness of the offence this may cause, and try to avoid using such expressions (or issue an apology after using them, see for example the recent note in The Guardian).

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~