Over 60,000 use Auschwitz Memorial page
Auschwitz Museum site is largest Facebook user service as far as museums, cultural institutions in Poland are concerned
“In this manner, historical information reaches all users several times a week; frequently, it refers to specific people, particular facts from the history of the Auschwitz camp, as well as the short accounts of witnesses," explains Paweł Sawicki, who administers the page.
"We also discuss historical photos and archival documents. From the comments, we know that this form of education about Auschwitz is used by many teachers and parents.
“On the other hand, we are also trying to show the everyday work at the Memorial, important ceremonies which take place in the Museum; we write about new publications and exhibitions, about conservation work, as well as attract attention to various events at the margin of the discourse about the history of Auschwitz, which exist, for example, in mass media.
"We also use the possibility of interaction offered by the social network, for example by asking users to provide their opinions, encouraging discussions or giving a possibility to ask a question to Museum employees.
"It is very important for us that many people treat our site as a place for remembering their family and relatives, victims of concentration camps and the Holocaust,” adds Sawicki.
Out of all institutions related to the history of the Holocaust which exist on Facebook, the Auschwitz Memorial has the greatest number of users. Over 37,000 people have already registered at the site of the Yad Vashem Institute in Jerusalem, and at the site of the Holocaust Museum in Washington – almost 34,000. Fourth place, taken by the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York, has almost 8,000 users.
The site of the Auschwitz Museum is also the largest Facebook user service as far as museums and cultural institutions in Poland are concerned, even though in this case it is significant that the site is addressed to people from around the world.
Users from various generations
Among users, the largest group are Americans (over 13,400). The site is also used by over 4,000 Italians, as well as by over 3,000 people from Poland, Great Britain, Portugal, Israel and France. In the top twenty countries, it is possible to find such places as Argentina with almost 1,500 users, Mexico (almost 1,000 users), as well as Brazil and Turkey (almost 900 users).
The site is used by people from various generations. The great majority of them, i.e. 44%, are people aged 25-44. However, as many as 13% of users are over 55, and almost 5% are users aged 13-17.
One of the greatest challenges is the linguistic variety of users. “Our information is published in Polish and English. However, users of the site include many people who, via voluntary work, help us with translation, because they would like the site to be available for people who do not know English.
"Thanks to this, we are able to translate the entire content into languages that are present on the site most frequently: Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French and German, as well as Hebrew and Hungarian,” explains Sawicki.
“You are doing a fine job. You're strong when I am not. You keep your facts accurate even when it pains me to see them. You are supporting those of us who need to pass the responsibility on to future generations,” Jerry Minsky from the United States wrote in one of the recent comments.
The most important Internet address for the Auschwitz Museum, however, remains the official site at www.auschwitz.org.
The service has garnered great interest. Last year the site was visited by nearly 2.5 million people.
