The Legacy: Speeches by Survivors in Auschwitz
On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the anthology ‘Das Vermächtnis. Reden von Überlebenden in Auschwitz’ (The Legacy: Speeches by Survivors in Auschwitz) was published.
Thomas Konhäuser (Research Director and Managing Director of the Cultural Foundation of German Expellees) and Christoph Heubner (Vice-President of the International Auschwitz Committee) present the “legacy” (“mutual exchange of publications”)
© Eva Oertwig für das IAK Berlin
Prof. Dr. Sascha Feuchert, Dr. Eva Umlauf, Christoph Heubner, Aleksandra Bak-Zawalksi, Sven Görtz
© Eva Oertwig für das IAK Berlin
Christoph Heubner, Prof. Dr. Sascha Feuchert, Aleksandra Bak-Zawalksi
© Eva Oertwig für das IAK Berlin Dr. Eva Umlauf, Christoph Heubner
© Eva Oertwig für das IAK Berlin Dr. Katharina Brauer
© Eva Oertwig für das IAK Berlin Dr. Eva Umlauf
The publication contains a comprehensive collection of accessible speeches by survivors that have been given at the central commemorative events at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum since 1995. These words of remembrance and warning are among the most important voices of the present day.
The volume, edited by Prof. Sascha Feuchert and Aleksandra Bak-Zawalski, brings together around 60 speeches in three languages – Polish, German and English. The texts paint a multi-layered panorama: from short, poignant warnings to in-depth reflections on psychological, educational and political issues.
A central concern of the publication is captured in the words of Dr. Piotr M. A. Cywiński, Director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum:
“Listening to survivors is not the same as truly hearing them at their core.
When a person who has survived Auschwitz tries to tell us something within a few minutes, we must assume that their words have been deeply considered. It is up to us to reflect on those words with the same depth. No fleeting emotion such a speech may evoke in us can have any effect if we do not internalize the awareness of our responsibility today.”
The publication is edited by the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum and was made possible by financial support from the Research Center for Holocaust Literature and the Hans and Berthold Finkelstein Foundation.
The publication was presented on 6 November 2025 at the Hessian State Representation in Berlin. The event included a welcome speech by Dr Katharina Brauer, a greeting by Dr Eva Umlauf, Auschwitz survivor and President of the International Auschwitz Committee, and a staged reading of selected texts by actor Sven Görtz. This was followed by a discussion between Prof. Dr. Sascha Feuchert, Aleksandra Bak-Zawalski and Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committees. The event concluded with a get-together.
A second edition has since been published. It has been expanded to include the speeches delivered at the commemorative ceremony on January 27, 2025, thereby continuing the book’s aim of preserving and making accessible the voices of survivors.
