Wjc Gratified by Poland’s Move to Include Auschwitz in Heritage List

Dr. Gerhart Riegner, Secretary General of the World Jewish Congress, announced here today that his organization sent a letter to the Director General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) expressing its deep satisfaction and its wholehearted support for a proposal submitted by the government of Poland to include the former concentration camp in Auschwitz in the World Heritage List.

This inclusion would confer upon Auschwitz the national and international protection provided under the Convention for the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage. The Convention was adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO in 1972. The Polish proposal received support by the Bureau of the World Heritage Committee established under the Convention.

The WJC, which enjoys consultative relations with UNESCO, stated in its letter that the inclusion of the Auschwitz camp in the list will ensure the safeguarding of its unique character as a place that witnessed unparalleled crimes of profound significance for the history of mankind.

It said that the perpetuation of the memory of Auschwitz is a sacred trust to be transmitted to future generations and noted that more than four million men, women and children, the majority of them Jews, were put to death in what Winston Churchill termed “probably the greatest and the most horrible crime ever committed in the whole history of the world.”

The letter expressed the hope that in perpetuating the memory of the victims, recognition will be given to their national, cultural, and religious identify and the various traditions they represented. The WJC also hoped that the camp site would not only became universally recognized as a historic memorial as result of the World Heritage Committee’s decision, but would also serve as an important educational instrument for the promotion of international peace and understanding.