Note to Correspondents

‘AFTERWARDS, IT’S JUST A PART OF YOU’ EXHIBITION OPENS

 

AT UN HEADQUARTERS ON 18 JANUARY

 

In commemoration of the sixtieth anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, an exhibition entitled “Afterwards, it’s just a part of you” opens to the public in the South Gallery of the General Assembly Visitors’ Lobby on Tuesday, 18 January 2005.

This exhibit documents the long-term positive effects of visits to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp by youth groups from Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Luxemburg, Netherlands, Poland, South Africa and the United States.  Using disposable cameras sent out with each group, young people had themselves photographed by a friend and shared their feelings about visits to these camps accompanied by survivors.  They speak of this journey as a very powerful experience, affecting their outlook on life, in general, and on political and moral issues such as racism and anti-Semitism, in particular.

Included in the exhibit are works of the Dutch photographer Pieter Boersma, who has created a visual record of the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp over the past 15 years, with exhibit installation designed by the Dutch visual artist Antoon Versteegde, whose bamboo-constructions are well-known.  The concept of the exhibition has been developed by the historian and exhibition-maker Carry van Lakerveld, Amsterdam, and Christoph Heubner of the International Auschwitz Committee, Berlin.

In conjunction with the exhibit opening, a media encounter and viewing of the exhibit will take place at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, 18 January, in the GuidedToursMini-Theatre (north of the Ground Floor Neck area).  Statements will be made by Shashi Tharoor, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, as well as Auschwitz survivors Roman Kent and Kurt Goldstein.

The exhibition is produced by the International Auschwitz Committee, Berlin, and is made possible through the support of the Volkswagen Coaching GmbH (Germany), LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa and the International Youth Centre, Oswiecim (Poland).  It is co-sponsored by the United Nations Department of Public Information.  For more information about the exhibition, call Jan Arnesen at (212) 963-8531 or Liza Wichmann at (212) 963-0089, or visit the Web site:  www.un.org/events/UNART.  For a calendar of current exhibitions and guided tours, call (212) 963-TOUR.

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