On 1 October in the Chancellery of the Prime Minister of Poland in Warsaw, the 14th Session of the International Committee of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation took place, with representatives from countries supporting the Foundation's efforts to preserve the Auschwitz Memorial Site. Besides matters related to the conservation of the Memorial, an important topic of discussion was the upcoming 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.

Opening the session, the Chairman of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation Council, Marek Zając, thanked Minister Grzegorz Karpiński for allowing the International Committee meetings to return to the Chancellery of the Prime Minister. He then addressed all Committee members: “We all realize how important it is to preserve the traces of this tragic history. Conservation at the Memorial and all related work have been and are a great challenge. It's work that requires immense dedication.”

"The 80th anniversary of the liberation of KL Auschwitz is approaching. With each passing year, there are fewer Survivors with us. We must do everything to ensure their voices resonate powerfully on this day, worldwide. We must prevent the world from re-adopting the catastrophe of hatred. This is our common goal, our common duty, and our shared task,” added Zając.

The President of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation and director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, Dr. Piotr M. A. Cywiński, emphasized the significance of the Foundation's support for preserving the authenticity of the Memorial: "Last year, the Foundation contributed a record twenty-seven million zlotys for conservation works, and the total support for the Museum since the beginning of the Foundation exceeded one hundred million zlotys at the start of this year."

Jolanta Banaś-Maciaszczyk, head of Conservation at the Auschwitz Museum, presented information on fourteen ongoing or recently completed conservation projects funded by the Foundation. These projects include the conservation of brick barracks, latrines, kitchen, disinfection station, and the ruins of crematoria and gas chambers at the former Auschwitz II-Birkenau camp, as well as the conservation of victims' objects, including thousands of shoes belonging to the youngest victims of the German Nazi concentration and extermination camp. The conservation projects also cover the protection of historical greenery, water management at the site of Birkenau, and digital documentation of ongoing works.

"Standards and high quality of conservation work developed and applied by the Museum's conservators guarantee the longest possible preservation of historical objects at the Memorial," stated Rafał Pióro, deputy director of the Auschwitz Museum responsible for conservation, during the meeting.

General Director of the Foundation, Wojciech Soczewica, emphasized that beyond its primary mission of financing conservation work, the Foundation is gradually developing support for educational activities, funded with additional resources beyond the Endowment Fund.

"The 'Auschwitz. In Front of Your Eyes' platform, which allows live guided online visits at  the Auschwitz Memorial—currently available in seven languages—was launched in January this year. More and more schools and institutions are starting to incorporate this form of education into their programs. For example, Leeds has allocated funds for students from all 44 public schools in this British city to visit the Auschwitz Museum online. We are also working on a general educational strategy for the Museum, and soon, we will also start a special training program for museum guides," said Wojciech Soczewica.

"The online visits project is particularly significant for us. We see interest in such a form of learning not only from schools and educational institutions but also from companies that want to incorporate reflection on dehumanization based on the history of Auschwitz into the ethical foundation of their organizations. We are also at the beginning of a completely new project, which is the creation of an art exhibition in the building of the former camp kitchen at Auschwitz I, featuring art created by prisoners in the camp and by Survivors after its liberation," added Director Cywiński.

Piotr Cywiński also spoke about the upcoming 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. This will probably be the last round anniversary with a large group of Auschwitz Survivors present. Their words will be heard around the world, including by state delegations gathered in front of the main gate of the former Auschwitz II-Birkenau camp.

"The focus on that day will be on the Survivors. We do not yet know how many of them will be physically with us on January 27. I hope it will be several dozen. However, it should be emphasized that during the anniversary commemorations, there will be no political speeches," stressed Director Cywiński.

During the discussion at the Committee meeting, many questions were raised about the anniversary, and diplomats—informally so far—indicate the presence of many delegations at the highest possible level.

The main commemorations of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz will begin on January 27 at 4 p.m. in a special tent that will be erected over the gate to the former Auschwitz II-Birkenau camp. One of the symbols of the commemorations will be a freight train car of the type used by the Germans to deport Jews to extermination camps.