10 August 2010
Following reports this morning that a barracks at the Majdanek camp was seriously damaged by fire last night, Yad Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev spoke to Majdanek Museum Director Tomasz Kranz and expressed his support.
Shalev offered assistance to the Majdanek Museum, and expressed his deep sorrow that such an important site, including valuable artifacts had been damaged or destroyed. According to the Museum, some 10,000 shoes from victims of Majdanek were destroyed during the fire. “The damage to these irreplaceable items is a loss to a site that has such historical value to Europe, Poland and the Jewish people,” said Shalev after his conversation with Kranz.
The cause of the fire is not yet known, and all possibilities are being investigated.
