Three members of the advisory board of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum in Poland resigned after the government appointed a member of the country’s right-wing ruling party to serve on the body, The Associated Press reported Friday.
The Ministry of Culture appointed former Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo to a four-year term on the Council of the State Museum of Auschwitz-Birkenau. The nine-member group of Poles meets once a year to advise the museum director and is separate from the International Auschwitz Council, which is made up of Holocaust survivors and experts.
Szydlo faced backlash in 2017 when she appeared to defend her conservative anti-migrant policies at a memorial rally at the former Nazi death camp. She said that “in today’s restless times, Auschwitz is a great lesson showing that everything must be done to protect the safety and lives of the citizens.”
She later denied that her highly criticized comments were about refugees.
The politician is a Member of the European Parliament for the Law and Justice party and grew up in the town of Oswiecim, where Auschwitz is located, AP noted.
Philosopher Stanislaw Krajewski was the first adviser to resign in protest at Szydlo’s appointment. He explained to the outlet that his departure was in response to the “politicization” of a group, adding that he was uncomfortable with the addition of political figures.
“It’s hard to say what would happen, but it would significantly change the nature of the body,” Krajewski said. “I don’t want to sit on the same council today with a major politician from the ruling party.”
He pointed to Law and Justice’s efforts to build national pride in the nation’s past. The outlet noted that the party, which took power in 2015, used museums, state media and other instruments to promote a patriotic vision of Poland that emphasized resistance to the German occupation. Some critics say the initiative was historical money laundering and a twisted version of the past.
“The fear is that this would be another step towards making the Auschwitz-Birkenau museum part of their historical policy,” Krajewski said of Syzdlo’s appointment.
Other members also left, including historians Marek Lasota, who is also a member of the ruling party, and Krystyna Oleksy, a former deputy director of the Auschwitz Museum.