Britain contributes € 21 m to Auschwitz preservation fund – Friday, May 27, 2011 GULF NEWS
A year after invading Poland in 1939, the Nazis opened what was to become a vast complex on the edge of the southern town of Oswiecim – Auschwitz in Germany. The Nazis later expanded it to the nearby village of Brzezinka, or Birkenau.
Of the six million Jews killed in the Holocaust, one million were murdered at the site, mostly in its notorious gas chambers, along with tens of thousands of others including Poles, Roma, and Soviet prisoners of war. “Auschwitz-Birkenau is a searing reminder of the horrific consequences of intolerance and hatred. It should never been forgotten.” British Foreign Secretary William Hague was quoted as saying in a statement released by the embassy. He said, “I am determined that the government should take an active approach to preserving the memory of the Holocaust.”
The death camp was set up by Germany in occupied Poland during the Second World War. In the decades following the end of the conflict, 95 percent of the annual costs preserving the site – now around € 5 million – have been met by the Polish state and revenues come from publications and guided tours.
Geeta Chhabra
