Warsaw,(ONA) The Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum, which has closed its doors to visitors since mid-March due to the Covid-19 epidemic, was forced to launch an appeal for funding to be able to continue.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of Auschwitz’s liberation, which has become a symbol of all German death camps.

“We are calling for financial assistance from all those who consider it necessary to preserve memory,” the museum said in a statement published on its official website.

“The 2020 budget has collapsed,” it said, despite “special support” from the Polish culture ministry and the Auschwitz-Birkenau International Foundation, which will help maintain jobs and continue maintenance work to preserve the site. But lost revenues from ticket sales means there is no funding for the creation of new exhibitions, education and publishing, it added.

This site, which is visited every year by more than two million people, is particularly active on social media, more than 331,000 followers on Facebook and more than a million on Twitter.

The museum closed its doors on March 12, and it will only be able to reopen in early July, according to its website.

(ONA)