Conference of Presidents Praises U.S. Commitment to Preserve Auschwitz-Birkenau

New York, July 12, 2010… In a letter to President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, leaders of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations praised the commitment of the United States to donate $15 million to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation to help preserve the remains of the concentration camp. Secretary Clinton outlined this commitment in a recent speech at the Schindler Factory Museum in Krakow, Poland.

“Auschwitz-Birkenau is not just a concentration camp where 1.1 million people perished but it is a symbol of the barbarity of the Holocaust and the depths of depravity to which human beings can be dragged by hatred and bigotry.  At a time when the last witnesses are still alive we hear increasing voices of denial and denigration of the Holocaust.  The preservation of Auschwitz-Birkenau will be a lasting memorial and an eternal reaffirmation of the truth about what occurred. We hope Congress will approve this funding and that other countries will follow the example of the United States so the particular and universal messages of Auschwitz-Birkenau will be preserved for future generations,” said Conference of Presidents Chairman Alan Solow and Executive Vice Chairman Malcolm Hoenlein.

Beginning as a concentration camp for Polish prisoners of war, Auschwitz-Berkenau grew into the largest death camp on Polish soil. The Nazis destroyed the gas chambers and crematoria before the camp was liberated in 1945 and much of Birkenau’s barracks have deteriorated over the years.