03 July 2007
The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has approved a request by the Polish government to rename the Auschwitz Birkenau concentration camp. The death camp, which claimed the lives of as many as 1.5 million people during World War II, most of them Jews, was officially renamed 'Auschwitz-Birkenau. Nazi German Concentration and Extermination Camp (1940-1945).'
In 2006, the Polish government had asked the UN body to change the name of the World Heritage Site in a bid to avoid confusion over its historical origin. The UNESCO World Heritage Committee made the decision on Wednesday at a session in New Zealand. Poland’s request for a name-change came after a string of incidents over the last decade in which international media referred to the camp as "Polish" due to its location in Poland.
