A major Auschwitz exhibition opened to the public today in Madrid. Numerous exhibits from the Auschwitz Memorial have been assembled by the Dutch historian Jan van Pelt and the director of the management of the Polish Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum.

This is the first major off-site exhibition to be mounted since 1986 outside the authentic grounds of the former German Nazi concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. Now the chosen exhibits from Auschwitz will be transporting the memories of the survivors into a world where Holocaust denial and anti-Semitic hatred are occurring in increasingly massive outbreaks. Even before the exhibition opened, it was targeted in the social media with massive anti-Semitic attacks and right-wing extremist insults. This is also one of the reasons why the exhibition will be travelling to numerous other European cities following Madrid.


Commenting in Berlin, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the IAC said:

"Auschwitz survivors around the world are extremely grateful for the dedicated work of the colleagues at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and for this exhibition. It has much greater significance than purely historical value. Above all it is a constructive contribution to the current conflict surrounding anti-Semitism, racial hatred and xenophobia in Europe. This exhibition in particular will be a seismograph reflecting how – alongside the events of Auschwitz and the present-day attitudes towards them – the varying levels of anti-Semitic rage and right-wing extremist hatred are endangering Europe. Consequently, the exhibition can be seen as a great opportunity to convey the message of the Auschwitz survivors, especially to young people, that anti-Semitism, racial hatred and discrimination should never again be allowed to shape societies within Europe."