Decision 42 COM 7B.27

Auschwitz Birkenau, German Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp (1940-1945) (Poland) (C 31)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/18/42.COM/7B,
2. Recalling Decisions 33 COM 7B.115 and 40 COM 7B.55, adopted respectively during its 33rd (Seville, 2009) and 40th (Istanbul/UNESCO, 2016) sessions,
3. Congratulates the State Party for the provision of the Conservation Strategy and implementation following the international standards and regulations for urgent conservation projects as requested by the Committee (Decision 40 COM 7B.55);
4. Also congratulates the State Party for the decision taken regarding the environmental conditions limiting the visual, accoustic disturbance and archaeological impacts of the expressway S-1 and the south ring road of Oświęcim and the quality of the measures proposed, in particular concerning the possible human remains, and the general project planning integrating the HIA as requested by the Committee;
5. Recommends the State Party to continue the dialogue initiated with the authorities and the local communitiues to explain the historical value of the cultural context surrounding the inscribed property, notably through mediation methods and appropriate educative material to enable the establishment of a buffer zone for the property, guaranteeing the appropriate use of the property and its surroundings;
6. Requests the State Party to continue its efforts to complete the management plan and its adoption by all the stakeholders and also recommends in this respect to evoke the Retrospective Statement of Outstanding Universal Value recently adopted, and to reinforce and extend the governance mechanism to all the stakeholders, notably the authorities and local communities;
7. Reiterates its request to the State Party to invite a World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS Advisory mission to the property and further recommends the State Party to coincide the mission with an expert group meeting, notably to enable the development of an educative and social awareness-raising, explanatory and reconversion programme, on the historical structures of the protection zone;
8. Recommends furthermore the State Party to continue the implementation of the recommendations of the 2013 expert group;
9. Also requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2019, an updated report on the state of conservation of the property and the implementation of the above, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 44th session in 2020.