A HOUSE TO LIVE
A PLACE TO LEARN

For the first time, the International Youth Meeting Centre took part in the Leipzig Book Fair. Together with the International Auschwitz Committee, the IYMC presented the prisoner memoirs it has published by Zofia Posmysz, Halina Birenbaum, Tadeusz Smreczyński, and Marian Turski, as well as catalogs from the Biennale of the Socio-Political Posters.

The interest among visitors was high: many had already visited the Youth Meeting Centre and the memorial site, teachers inquired about opportunities for school trips, and numerous conversations emerged about the work of the Centre as well as political developments in Europe and around the world.

Particularly moving was the visit of a Polish woman who now lives in Germany with her family and was born in Oświęcim. She explained that during her youth in Oświęcim, the IYMC had opened up many paths to the world for her and helped her build connections to Germany, including to Dachau. She remains grateful for this to this day, as well as to her teachers at the Konarski Lyceum in her hometown. This conversation especially impressed Jérôme Déodat and Lea Sukau, former IYMC volunteers who were staffing the stand.

As with many other visitors, people repeatedly emphasized: your work is important—it is good that you are present here.

Dr. Eva Umlauf, an Auschwitz survivor and President of the International Auschwitz Committee, presented her new book “This Is Exactly How It Begins” at the joint stand and during two evening readings. In it, she comments on current political developments from her perspective as a survivor and in the context of her memories and experiences. Christoph Heubner, Vice President of the IAC and co-founder of the IJBS, also read from his books published by Steidl Verlag at a panel discussion during the book fair.