11 September 2012
The Prime Minister of Poland, Donald Tusk, has appointed Chairman of Yad Vashem Avner Shalev, Deputy Chairman of the International Auschwitz Council.
The International Auschwitz Council was established by Poland in 2000. It is a consultive and advisory body of the Prime Minister regarding the preservation and functioning of the Auschwitz site and other Holocaust memorials. The Chairman of the Council is Prof. Wladyslaw Bartoszewski, a Righteous Among the Nations, historian and writer, and former Foreign Minister of Poland. The Council is made up of 21 members from Poland, Israel, the United States, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, who serve six years terms. There are two deputy chairmen, and alongside Shalev, Polish Holocaust historian Dr. Barbara Engelking has been appointed Deputy Chairman of the Council.
“As the events of the Holocaust recede into history, there are growing challenges in preserving the authentic sites of the Holocaust, where the murders took place,” said Shalev. “This is especially so if these sites are to serve as tools in meaningful Holocaust remembrance and education and in shaping Holocaust remembrance in future generations.”
