March 29th, 2011

Bus handover in Oswiecim: "With this bus you are helping us a great deal"

At the meeting of the VW employees on 16 March in Wolfsburg, the chair of the works council Bernd Osterloh thanked Christoph Heubner from the International Auschwitz Committee for the 20 years of collaboration with Volkswagen's Memorial work. At the same time he presented a Volkswagen Caravelle for the work of the International Auschwitz Committee.

During the official handover of the bus in Oswiecim the International Auschwitz Committee's Vice president Christoph Heubner emphasised: "It is with great pleasure that, in agreement with the Volkswagen Company, we are now handing over this lovely bus to the Auschwitz Memorial. We are very much aware of the important work carried out by the colleagues at the Memorial for the visitors from around the world, for remembrance and for the future. The continuous increase in the number of visitors certainly proves the importance of this educational and political work. And that's why this bus is being dedicated to assist the survivors and support the work of the International Centre for Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust at the Memorial."

The director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial, Piotr Cywinski, thanked both the International Auschwitz Committee and the Volkswagen Company for this generous gesture: "With this bus you are helping us a great deal in our international work at this place of remembrance which is so important for the world. But I would also like to thank the trainees from Volkswagen and the students of the Bielsko-Biala Technical College, who join hands four times a year to work here at the Memorial. For us these are both parts of an inseparable whole: the gift of the bus and the interest and involvement especially of young people."

Kazimierz Albin from Warsaw was also at the presentation ceremony. At the age of 17 he was transported to Auschwitz together with his brother in June 1940. He was labelled number 118 at the camp. "Kazimierz Albin has talked with our groups on very many occasions. His accounts always impressed the young people and left them very thoughtful. For us it is very important that he is here today," said Ines Doberanzke, who heads the Memorial work at Volkswagen Coaching.

On this day, the trainees from Wolfsburg and Hanover and their Polish colleagues are starting their 14-day preservation work at the Memorial. They are accompanied by Axel Passeier who is an instructor at Volkswagen Coaching in Wolfsburg. "This work is important and this place is important – for us," said Sarah Seidel, a trainee from Wolfsburg. "I came to realise this after just two days. And that's why I'm really pleased that we were able to help organise the presentation of our company's bus."

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