Friends of Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation

Friends of Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation is a charitable organization established to support the preservation of the grounds and remnants of the former concentration camp KL Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II Birkenau concentration camp supervised by the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Oświęcim, Poland. The organization anticipates that it will provide support to programs and projects of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation, a charitable organization established under the laws of Poland and having a purpose consistent with Friends of Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation.

Time has eroded the memorial site. We will not let it erode our memory.

300 yards of archive material | 39 thousand negatives and thousands of photographs | 3800 suitcases| 460 prostheses | 260 prayer garments | 90 pounds of eyeglasses | 12 thousand pots and pans | 6 thousand works of art, bunks, cabinets, stools, tables, etc.

All of these require critical preservation efforts,Birkenau camp buildings were hand-built by the prisoners. Some of the materials came from local people’s homes destroyed especially for that purpose. It was not meant to last more than a few years. The site is continually exposed to the damaging effects of ground water and inclement weather. This has led to the gradual deterioration of the site.

When the last eyewitnesses to those tragic times are passing away, the preservation of Auschwitz is becoming a truly shared responsibility.