Holocaust Centre oration delivered by Auschwitz director
Mebourne’s Jewish Holocaust Centre held the Annual Betty and Shmuel Rosenkranz Oration, delivered by Dr Piotr Cywinski, Driector of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, at the Jewish Holocaust Centre.
Dr Piotr Cywinski Photo: Henry Benjamin
The Oration, under the joint auspices of the Jewish Holocaust Centre and the Australia/Israel Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC), is held annually to honour Shmuel and his late wife, Betty, for their outstanding contribution to the Jewish Holocaust Centre and to the wider Jewish community generally.
Dr Piotr Cywiński addressed the topic Kristallnacht and Remembrance: The Role of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum.
Dr Cywiński, 38, was born in Warsaw. He was the secretary of the International Auschwitz Council between 2000 and 2006, when he was appointed director of the State Museum of Auschwitz-Birkenau. In 2008 he was named Ambassador of the International Year of Intercultural Dialogue. Last year, the late Polish President, Lech Kaczynski, awarded him the Knight’s Cross of the Poland Reborn.
Holocaust Survivor-guide, George Ginzburg, opened the evening, recounting briefly his memories of Kristallnacht, followed by an address by Mr Rosenkranz about his involvement in Jewish communal life and the inordinate support he received from his late wife, Betty. Thereafter, Dr Cywiński delivered the Oration, during which he stressed the critical role of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum
