These emails contain a large number of allegations and accusations, some of which clearly exceed the legally permissible level of criticism of the Lower Saxony Memorials Foundation and its employees, as well as other individuals.
The statements made by Mr Olewski give a distorted and deliberately misleading account of the actual processes and contexts. His conclusions show that he is not concerned with the matters at hand, but solely with discrediting the Foundation's work and the memorial work at the Bergen-Belsen Memorial as a whole.
We have repeatedly asked him to refrain from these kind of misrepresentations, but have come to realise that the intensity of the unjustified accusations has only increased.
As you know, Mr Olewski, as Chairman of the Irgun She'erit Hapleta Bergen-Belsen Israel, is a member of the Advisory Board of the Lower Saxony Memorials Foundation, where he represents the interests of his organisation. However, he is currently suspending his office, which means that it is not possible for him to meet in person. The Foundation Advisory Board advises the Board of Trustees on all technical issues relating to memorial site work and research. It is made up of representatives
of various survivors' organisations as well as social bodies, associations and foundations that provide important support for the work of the Foundation and the memorial sites. The Advisory Board has no management or supervisory functions.
In conclusion, we would like to emphasise that it is very important to us to maintain a trusting and constructive relationship with all those affected, supporters and members of the committees, in the interests of the work of the Foundation and the memorial site. However, the Mr Olewski’s manner of communication in this matter makes it difficult to implement such a working relationship in this specific case. This is all the more so as it is not clear what the specific objective of the allegations and accusations made by Mr Olewski is.
The Chairman of the Advisory Board has sent an email to the members of the Advisory Board in which he explains the reasons for convening a special meeting of the Advisory Board to discuss this issue. A copy of this e-mail will be sent on request by the Communications Department (kommunikation@stiftung-ng.de).
Kind regards
Dr Elke Gryglewski
Managing Director of the Lower Saxony Memorials Foundation and
Director of the Bergen-Belsen Memorial