April 19th, 2010

Kazimierz Smolen: A voice of the survivors.

On April 19, 2010 Kazimierz Smolen, the Polish Auschwitz survivor and longstanding director of the State Memorial at the former German concentration camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau, celebrated his 90th birthday in Oswiecim/Auschwitz.

During a celebration at the International Youth Meeting Centre in Oswiecim the Vice-President of the International Auschwitz Committee, Christoph Heubner, emphasized: “Kazimierz Smolen has become a voice of the survivors that is heard throughout the world. Over the years he has spoken with thousands of young people from many countries about the conditions and events in Auschwitz, and during his guided tours of the Memorial he has paced hundreds of kilometres through his own history and that of his fellow prisoners.”

On behalf of the Memorial and its Director Piotr Cywinski, Deputy Director Krystyna Oleksy thanked Kazimierz Smolen for the many years of teamwork.

In his words of thanks Kazimierz Smolen said: “As ever, I regard my work as a mission in the name of the many people who remained in Auschwitz. I am especially thankful for the many talks and meetings with young people, because these are the things that keep me alive.”
His words were followed attentively, particularly by the young participants at the ceremony including trainees from Volkswagen AG, Polish vocational students and IJBS volunteers from Germany, Austria and the Ukraine.

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