Piotr Cywiński, Director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, will be the special guest of the Forum of Oral History of Ukraine

On October 10, Kyiv will host the Forum of Oral History of Ukraine — the first offline event, during which Ukrainian and global documentation initiatives will meet. The Forum was initiated by the Museum of Civilian Voices of the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation. The special guest of the event will be Piotr Cywiński - historian, social activist, Director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum and president of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation (Poland), who will be the speaker of the discussion panel "Documentation of war experiences and the future" in person.

"Recording testimony and preserving it is the most important thing now. This data will play a huge role in the future," said Mr. Cywiński last year in an exclusive interview and podcast for the Museum of Civilian Voices.

Piotr Cywiński is the author of books, articles and monographs on the history of the death camp, the memory of people who were prisoners and those who survived. He has a number of honorary awards, in particular, the Gold Cross of Merit from the President of Poland, knight's and officer's crosses from Poland, Belgium, France, Greece, Germany, Austria, an honorary badge for merits in the protection of human rights, a silver medal for merits to culture, a national award from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, etc.

The director of Auschwitz-Birkenau told the Museum of Civilian Voices that he had no doubts about the possibility of a full-scale war in Ukraine. The expert explained why he believed that the invasion would happen even earlier, and shared his thoughts on how important it is to collect, document and preserve the testimonies of eyewitnesses, victims of war. The full interview is available on the Museum's portal https://bit.ly/forumoforalhistoryofukraine

Three panel discussions are planned as part of the Forum of Oral History of Ukraine, during which participants will discuss various aspects of documenting war experiences. The event is an initiative of the Museum of Civilian Voices of the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation, which documents firsthand testimonies of civilians about the war and has already collected more than 85,000 testimonies.

The Forum will be held in partnership with the USC Shoah Foundation and the Oral History Association, with the support of the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and the Maria Curie-Sklodowska University (Lublin).

Participation in the Forum is free and possible with prior registration and confirmation from the hosts. Registration is available at https://forms.gle/UB8Z1c8LaZ56Nnpt8

and is open until October 8, 2023.

For press accreditation issues, please contact Olha Nosyk at [email protected].

For registration and additional questions, contact Volodymyr Kapustin at [email protected].

Follow the news of the Forum on its Facebook page.

and on the website of Museum of Civilian Voices.