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Educational and information bulletin of the Terezín Memorial

Czech-Polish Seminar: Autumn Segment at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum

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From September 11 to 14, the second part of the Czech-Polish educational seminar took place at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Oświęcim. This event was organized by the Department of Education of the Terezín Memorial in collaboration with the International Center for Auschwitz and Holocaust Education (ICEAH). A group of Czech teachers attended the seminar, having previously met their Polish counterparts in Terezín in February of this year. For more information about the spring segment of this seminar, please click here.

The Czech-Polish seminar in the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, Poland, September 2025, a tour of the city of Auschwitz with a focus on the history of the Jewish settlement of the city. Photo: Sylvie Holubová, Terezín Memorial.
The Czech-Polish seminar in the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, Poland, September 2025, a visit of the house which was used during the war by the Höss family. Photo: Sylvie Holubová, Terezín Memorial.

A rich program was prepared for the seminar participants by the lecturers of the Center. On Thursday, after arriving on site, the group took part in a guided tour of the historic center of Oświęcim. Friday morning was devoted to the topic of the so-called Sonderkommando and to the architectural design of the gas chambers and crematoria at the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. This block was followed by a tour of the former home of Rudolf Höss, the commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp (house No. 88), where preparations are underway for the new ARCHER project—an upcoming research center on hatred, extremism, and radicalization. In the afternoon, participants attended a lecture on the role of prisoner functionaries in the former Auschwitz concentration camp. In the early evening, they returned to the city to visit the Jewish Museum, including a guided tour of the Chewra Lomdej Mishnayot Synagogue.

The Czech-Polish seminar in the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, Poland, September 2025, a tour of places that are currently located outside the premises of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum. Photo: Sylvie Holubová, Terezín Memorial.
The Czech-Polish seminar in the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, Poland, September 2025, workshop in the Czech National Exhibition of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum. Photo: Sylvie Holubová, Terezín Memorial.

The first item on Saturday’s program was another guided tour—this time of the former Auschwitz I camp zone, including sites that now lie outside the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum (such as the former bakery, slaughterhouse, water-supply station, and the Union-Werke factory complex). These locations are not part of the usual visitor routes, and various companies and institutions now occupy some of the buildings. At noon, the participants attended a workshop at the Czech National Exhibition in Auschwitz. In the afternoon, they heard a lecture on the educational programs and goals of the International Center for Auschwitz and Holocaust Education (ICEAH).

To conclude the seminar, the Czech teachers were introduced to several interesting projects developed by their Polish colleagues.

Jan Kaňa