European Union Funds Preservation of Auschwitz

By JTA December 15, 2011

The European Union has donated more than $5 million to preserve the site of the Auschwitz Nazi death camp.

Auschwitz authorities announced Wednesday that the $5.3 million awarded by the European Commission, the executive body of the EU, will be used to preserve the women’s barracks at the Birkenau site of the camp, improve security and expand the database system.

The funds came after talks between French Prime Minister Francois Fillon and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.

“Holocaust survivors welcome the European contribution as a tangible expression that the horrors of the Nazi era must remain a lesson for future generations,” Elan Steinberg, vice president of the American Gathering of Holocaust Survivors and their Descendants, said in a statement. “The protection of Auschwitz represents more than the physical preservation of a site; it is a symbolic preservation of memory.”

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