Preserved Auschwitz Children’s Shoes Return to Display After Extensive Conservation Effort

By Hamodia Staff

Over 3,000 of the approximately 8,000 shoes belonging to children murdered in the Auschwitz concentration and extermination camp have returned to the display at the site of the memorial museum following an extensive preservation process, announced by the Auschwitz Memorial, Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation, and International March of the Living on Thursday.

The preservation process took over a year at the Auschwitz Museum Conservation Laboratories. The shoes were at risk of deteriorating beyond preservation, with major issues including leather discoloration, corrosion from metal parts, fragility, and delamination.

To address these threats, the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation issued a call in September 2023 to raise half a million dollars for the conservation process. The International March of the Living organization launched an international fundraising campaign, successfully raising the required funds within a few months through contributions from thousands of people.

Businessman and philanthropist Eitan Neishlos, a third-generation Holocaust survivor, made the initial major contribution to kickstart the conservation project. “Preserving the last remaining evidence of the children who were murdered at Auschwitz has even more meaning today, as the Jewish people around the world experience rampant antisemitism,” Neishlos said. “We must all come together to ensure that no one will be able to deny or distort the horrors the Jewish people endured in the Holocaust.”

Significant contributions also came from the general public in Israel and abroad. Dr. Shmuel Rosenman, chairman of the March of the Living, emphasized the project’s importance: “The project to conserve the shoes of children murdered in Auschwitz is a historic project that is crucial for preserving the evidence of German crimes during the Holocaust. It also has educational importance, allowing active participation in preserving the memory of children who were brutally murdered. We, who march every year in their memory along the path of death they walked, have been privileged to involve many in this project and ensure the preservation of the children’s shoes for another hundred years.”

Wojciech Soczewica, director-general of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation, expressed optimism that the collaboration “will, hopefully soon, lead to other projects, including in the area of education for young generations.”