Volkswagen is again supporting the International Auschwitz Committee. The company is providing 600,000 euros for the committee’s work at the Memorial in Oswiecim/Auschwitz
The funding from Volkswagen will enable the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial to carry out a research project. The Arolsen Archives and the Buchenwald memorial centre will together be reconstructing the stories of the lives of men and women who were deported to Auschwitz. Another area of support is the project work and the development of the International Youth Meeting Center in Oswiecim/Auschwitz, with which Volkswagen has been closely associated since its founding in 1986.
Commenting on Volkswagen’s dedicated involvement, Christoph Heubner, the Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee, said in Berlin: "For the survivors of Auschwitz, and especially in these times, Volkswagen’s financial and educational support is an unmistakable and moving sign of solidarity in the mutual struggle against anti-Semitism and racist hatred. The foundations of this solidarity are created by the many employees around the globe, and its light shines out far into society."
In Oswiecim Dr Piotr Cywinski, the Director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, said: "Together with the International Auschwitz Committee, Volkswagen has been deeply involved with the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial for more than three decades. Hundreds of trainees with the company from Germany and Poland have joined in work to preserve the Memorial and have looked into the causes and the history of Auschwitz. We are very grateful for this as well as the current support for our work. We are reconstructing the lives of many still nameless people who were deported to Auschwitz. This research is enabling us to give back the names and the family history to these people. This is very important to us. We sincerely hope that our joint efforts will endure, despite the pandemic. Our colleagues are looking forward to receiving the next group of trainees who will be helping them to preserve the Memorial for the future."
