Auschwitz Birkenau
German Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp (1940-1945)

• Lack of Management Plan
• Slow process of consultation with local communities
• Ground transport infrastructure

Total amount provided to the property: USD 10,000 from Israel

A joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS Advisory mission took place on 12-14 October 2021. Its main purpose was to assess the progress made in the establishment of a dialogue between the authorities and other key stakeholders as regards the immediate setting of the property and in view of the development of the Management Plan, as well as to assess the overall state of conservation of the property and factors that could potentially impact its Outstanding Universal Value (OUV). The report of the mission is available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/31/documents/.

On 9 December 2022, the State Party submitted a state of conservation report available at the above-mentioned link, outlining the following:

• Regarding the southern ring road of Oświęcim, the required documents – Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) and details concerning the road’s design – have been submitted to the World Heritage Centre and presented in detail to the international experts during an online meeting held on 19 May 2021. Construction work on the road started in October 2022;
• A team to monitor the preparation of Management Plans for World Heritage properties in Poland has been established under the leadership of the Ministry of Culture and Natural Heritage and has started its work. The Management Plan shall cover the property itself, as well as locations and areas important to the history of the former Auschwitz Birkenau camp in its vicinity;
• The National Institute of Cultural Heritage continues its work on updating Part 3 of the Conservation Strategy for the property, originally drawn up in 2013, to focus on the historic landscape in the direct vicinity of the property;
• The Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum earmarked its own funds and the subsidies of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage for continuing wide-ranging activities aimed at conserving the property and making it available to the public. The Museum is also pursuing numerous programmes funded with the use of donations provided by the Auschwitz Birkenau Foundation;
• Comprehensive conservation interventions are systematically undertaken in the brick barracks at Auschwitz II-Birkenau. The Museum employs its own team of experts in various fields. Work intended to protect the historic green areas is being conducted on the premises of both Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II;
• The Museum is consistently striving to expand its in-house capabilities in order to perform educational activities and to streamline the process of serving visitors.

The efforts by the State Party to develop the design of the Oświęcim southern ring road in the context of the recommendations made by the Expert Group in 2013, the 2015 Conservation Strategy and the HIA, are appreciated, as is the State Party’s effort to await the recommendations of the 2021 Advisory mission before starting the construction of the road.

However, as the southern part of the road cuts through the protected zone to the south of the property, the project highlights the urgent need for a formal buffer zone or formal protection of the immediate setting to support the OUV of the property. It is therefore recommended that the Committee invite the State Party to consider establishing a buffer zone, encompassing both the silence zone and the wider protection zone, or relevant spatial planning policies in order to offer greater protection to the property’s immediate setting.

The State Party’s efforts and progress made in establishing a closer dialogue between the national and local authorities, other key stakeholders and local communities are commendable and should be further encouraged in order to achieve an inclusive approach to the safeguarding and management of the property. This dialogue is essential for the management of a property that involves multiple stakeholders and poses challenges related to the enforceability of building protection measures, including mechanisms to prevent blight and deterioration.

The establishment of a team to monitor the preparation of Management Plans for World Heritage properties in Poland is positively noted. It is recommended that the Committee reiterate its request to the State Party to establish a comprehensive Management Plan for the property as a matter of priority, in line with the recommendations of the 2021 Advisory mission and the 2013 Expert Group. In view of the growing number of visitors to the property, a comprehensive tourism management and interpretation Plan for the entire property and its setting should be included as parts of the Management Plan. The Management Plan would also benefit from outlining the decision-making process on appropriate uses for the immediate surroundings of the property, through a process of continuous dialogue and discussion with local stakeholders. Progress has been made by the State Party in this regard, notably in the reuse of the former Lagerhaus, which has been restored and repurposed as the Remembrance Museum of Land of Oświęcim Residents.

The Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum invests significant efforts in actions aimed at conserving the property and making it accessible to the public. While various sources of funding support these actions, the State Party is encouraged to investigate innovative proposals in bringing public-private partnerships in support of projects in the immediate surroundings of the property and outside of the Museum’s purview. Such proposals could be included in the Management Plan.

The State Party should be encouraged to finalise the update of the Conservation Strategy for the property with the view to prioritising and hierarchising all the attributes of the property according to their contribution to the OUV while specifying how the elements of the property’s setting support the OUV in terms of historical significance and context. The State Party is progressively enriching and supporting educational and social awareness-raising activities linked to the historical structures within the property and in the protection zone.

Overall, steady progress has been made by the State Party in the implementation of the Committee’s Decision 44 COM 7B.52 with the notable exception of the elaboration of the Management Plan, which requires close dialogue and collaboration among different stakeholders. The adoption of the plan by all stakeholders will be a key element in the effective long-term management of the property.