Poland Dedicate Memorial at Belzec Death Camp

Thursday June 3, 2004

American Jewish Committee,

NEW YORK, June 3 /PRNewswire/

Dedication of the Belzec Memorial and Museum took place today at the site of the notorious Nazi death camp in Poland.

Polish, American, and Israeli officials, as well as several hundred Holocaust survivors and families of survivors participated in the ceremony.

The Belzec Memorial Project, a joint initiative of the American Jewish Committee and the government of Poland, with support from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, is the first effort in 60 years to preserve and protect the long-ignored death camp and establish a permanent memorial to the hundreds of thousands of Jews who perished there during the Holocaust.

Aleksandr Kwasniewski, president of Poland; David Harris, AJC executive director; Miles Lerman, chairman of AJC's Belzec Memorial Project and chairman emeritus of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council; and Wladyslaw Bartoszewski, chairman of the Council for the Protection of the Memory of Combat and Martyrdom, AJC's Polish partner in the project, addressed the dedication ceremony.

"This extermination camp, now finally after six decades, demarcated, protected, and memorialized, stands as a stark and permanent reminder of man's seemingly limitless capacity for inhumanity," said AJC Executive Director David Harris, who first visited Belzec six years ago and saw an unmarked and unprotected field strewn with litter.

"This memorial finally explains the full story of Belzec, pays tribute to the victims, provides a permanent protection for the mass graves, and serves as a stark reminder that we should not, dare not ever forget," said Harris, himself the son of Holocaust survivors. "Belzec reminds governments, civic institutions, religious leaders and individuals that we all must remain vigilant in defense of the precious gift of liberty and against any form of tyranny."

Also addressing the dedication on behalf of their respective governments were Ambassador Christopher Hill, the U.S. ambassador to Poland, and Ambassador David Peleg, Israel's ambassador to Poland. In addition, more than 150 members of the Israeli army, who are in Poland on joint exercises with Poland's armed forces, attended the Belzec dedication.

Background

The Belzec death camp in southeastern Poland was established by the Nazis at the end of 1941. It was the first killing center to operate gas chambers, and between February and December 1942 hundreds of thousands of Jews died there and were buried in mass graves. Before their departure, the Nazis sought to eliminate the evidence of their crimes, opening graves and burning the victims' bodies, dismantling buildings and even planting trees on the site. It was not until the 1960s that several concrete, grave like structures were built to mark the alleged sites of mass graves and a monument to the "victims of Fascism" was erected. Until the 1980s there was not even a single sign explaining that the victims were Jews.

The Belzec Memorial Project Design

In 1994, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum began discussions with the Polish Ministry of Culture to create a meaningful commemoration at the Belzec site. This led to a memorial design competition and the selection of a new monument by an international panel of judges in June 1997. The future memorial will be set within the site cleared of ground structures and vegetation. Through a slash in the ground visitors will slowly descend from one end of the camp near the original railway ramp along a narrow corridor leading to a ten meter high memorial wall at the opposite end. In this way they will symbolically follow the path of the victims. A walkway which encircles the perimeter of the site (and on which will be identified the names of all the Jewish communities whose residents perished at Belzec) will direct them back toward the entrance and a small exhibition area and visitors' center. In this way, visitors will be bound to respect the grounds of the mass graves and feel that the entire site is sacred.

An initial understanding was reached between the Polish government and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum to share the costs of the project. Miles Lerman, then chairman of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council, agreed to lead the campaign to raise the necessary funds from private contributions. However, in the summer of 2002, following a change of leadership and a decision to scale back its international programs and activities, the museum sought to withdraw from its involvement in the Belzec Memorial Project, provided an appropriate international partner could be found to take its place. The American Jewish Committee, with its long involvement in Polish-Jewish relations, its network of contacts with Polish government officials, and its own representative in Warsaw, was viewed as the obvious alternative.

The American Jewish Committee Involvement

In November 2002, the American Jewish Committee signed an agreement with the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum to assume responsibility as the international partner with the Polish government to bring the Belzec Memorial Project to completion. The project is being undertaken with the personal support of Polish Prime Minister Leszek Miller. Miles Lerman maintains a leadership role in the project and is spearheading efforts to secure the necessary contributions. Key staff members of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum continue to provide assistance, while Rabbi Andrew Baker, AJC's Director for International Jewish Affairs, has assumed overall responsibility for coordinating the project.

The American Jewish Committee signed an agreement covering all aspects of the project with the Council for the Protection of the Memory of Combat and Martyrdom in the Republic of Poland, the official Polish government agency overseeing the Belzec Memorial Project. Construction began in May 2003, and the memorial is expected to be dedicated in the fall of 2003.

Exhibition Space

While the memorial is constructed, the contents of the small exhibition space in the visitors' center are now being determined. Only a handful of people survived the Belzec extermination camp, so firsthand accounts are rare. Researchers are at work identifying all of the Jewish communities deported to Belzec, and even the number of victims is subject to some debate. A committee of international Holocaust historians, under the chairmanship of Dr. Michael Berenbaum, has been formed to resolve these questions and to draft and approve the informational texts that will be placed on the site.

Halakhic Concerns

Because the memorial site is also the place of thirty-three mass graves, considerable attention must be paid to the halakhah (Jewish law) governing cemeteries. International halakhic authorities have visited the site and given their approval to the memorial design. Archaeological excavations and additional rabbinic examinations have determined that the pathway which traverses the site will not disturb any of the mass graves. Additionally, since the design calls for the memorial to encircle the entire site, it will provide a degree of protection for these graves that has been absent until now. (Residents of Belzec have regularly used paths through the site as "shortcuts" through the village.) Before and during construction, representatives of the chief rabbi of Warsaw, with guidance from and in consultation with the Committee for the Preservation of Jewish Cemeteries in Europe, present on the site to ensure that no halachic violations occur.

Contributions to the Project

The cost of the memorial is now estimated to be over $4 million, with half the sum coming from private contributions. As chairman of the Belzec Memorial Project, Miles Lerman has spearheaded this important fund-raising effort. Large and small contributions alike have been received, many from Holocaust survivors whose relatives perished at Belzec, and additional contributions will be gratefully accepted.

A complete description of the Belzec Memorial Project is available at AJC's web site, http://www.ajc.org.