The Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Foundation (ABMF) is a New York-based non-profit organization established in 2012. Its mission is to safeguard the memory of Auschwitz-Birkenau through the preservation of its original artifacts and bringing education about Auschwitz to every American student. Under the leadership of its Chairman, Ronald S. Lauder, the ABMF believes that the existence of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum, its authenticity, and its message will help prevent a reoccurrence of the hatred, racism, antisemitism, and xenophobia that led to the Holocaust.
The Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Foundation's work consists of three main pillars:
- Preservation of the authentic remains of Auschwitz-Birkenau
- Holocaust education
- Survivors' outreach in the United States
Ronald S. Lauder is the younger son of Estee and Joseph Lauder and serves as a Director of the Estee Lauder Companies, Inc., and Chairman of Clinique Laboratories, LLC. He also serves as the President of the World Jewish Congress, the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation, Neue Galerie New York, the Jewish National Fund, the Commission for Art Recovery, and the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation. He also served as the United States Ambassador to Austria under President Ronald Reagan. Notably, he is the Chairman of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Foundation. Since his first visit to the former German Nazi concentration and extermination camps Auschwitz-Birkenau, Ambassador Ronald S. Lauder has donated tens of millions of dollars for the preservation of Auschwitz-Birkenau and the creation of the Museum's innovative conservation labs. In January 2020, Lauder financed a trip of over 100 survivors and their family members from the US, Canada, Israel, Australia, Sweden, and other countries to Auschwitz.
Dr. Maria Zalewska is a nonprofit executive, Holocaust educator, media scholar, and author with a track record of strategically planning, developing, and funding cross-institutional Holocaust educational projects, as well as developing media projects from pre- to post-production. Her academic work has focused on the relationship between new technologies, media studies, and Holocaust memory. Her research develops new directions in Holocaust studies and innovative responses to the challenges facing Holocaust education in the digital age. She currently serves as the Executive Director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Foundation. Her great-grandfather was killed in Auschwitz.
