Memorial sites play an important role as elements of historical education and as a warning against horrific crimes committed by totalitarian regimes. However, for the warning to be loud and clear, these sites must function and fulfill their educational role, they must be preserved. To safeguard these crucial social values significant resources are required. Although the majority of memorial sites face considerable financial and organizational difficulties, some of them fulfill their social mission very effectively and develop best management, fundraising, and commemoration standards. The economic, financial, and managerial aspects of preserving memorial sites, though crucial for societies, have not been researched prior to the Center for Research on the Economics of Memorial Sites.

The main goal of the Center for Research on the Economics of Memorial Sites is the development of scientific doctrine of the economics of memorial sites, which will provide best practices and measures of effectiveness related to the economic, financial and management aspects of the development, preservation, commemoration and functioning of memorial sites. This goal will be realized in collaboration with the leading stakeholders in the community, including national institutions, directors, fundraisers, benefactors and curators.

To realize this mission, the Center will conduct international comparative research at the memorial sites, where the former German Nazi concentration camps, extermination camps and places of mass executions are located, including the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Netherlands (Holland), Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Latvia, Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Ukraine. At a later stage, research will be expanded to include other memorial sites around the world.

• Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum
• Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation
• Gross-Rosen Museum in Rogoźnica
• The State Museum at Majdanek. The Nazi German Concentration and Extermination Camp (1941-1944)
• Museum and Memorial in Bełżec. The Nazi German Extermination Camp (1942-1943)
• Museum and Memorial in Sobibor. The Nazi German Extermination Camp (1942-1943)
• The Historical Museum of the City of Kraków
• Museum Stutthof in Sztutowo. The Nazi German Concentration and Extermination Camp (1939-1945)
• Muzeum Martyrologiczne w Żabikowie (Memorial and Museum in Żabikowo)
• Museum of the Former German Kulmhof Death Camp in Chełmno on Ner
• Treblinka Museum. The Nazi German Extermination Camp and Labor Camp (1941-1944)
• Dulag 121 Museum
• The Museum of Pawiak Prison in Warsaw
• Mauzoleum Walki i Męczeństwa (Mausoleum of Struggle and Martyrdom)
• Central Museum of Prisoners of War

• Piotr M. A. Cywiński, Ph.D., the Chair of the Program Committee
  Director Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, President of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation, and Chief Expert of the Center for Research on the Economics of Memorial Sites at SWPS University
• Janusz Barszcz
  Director of the Gross-Rosen Museum in Rogoźnica
• Edward Kopówka, Ph.D.
  Director of the Treblinka Museum. The Nazi German Extermination Camp and Forced Labor Camp (1941-1944)
• Tomasz Kranz, Ph.D.
  Director of the State Museum at Majdanek. The Nazi German Concentration and Extermination Camp (1941-1944), the Museum and Memorial in Bełżec. The Nazi German Extermination Camp (1942-1943), and the Museum and Memorial Site in Sobibor Nazi German Extermination Camp (1942-1943)
• Michał Niezabitowski
  Director of the Historical Museum of the City of Kraków (host of Museum – Memorial Site KL Plaszow)
• Piotr Tarnowski
  Director of the Museum Stutthof in Sztutowo. The Nazi German Concentration and Extermination Camp (1939-1945)
• Anna Ziółkowska, Ph.D.
  Director of Muzeum Martyrologiczne w Żabikowie (Memorial and Museum in Żabikowo) and the Museum of the Former German Kulmhof Death Camp in Chełmno on Ner
• Adam Szpaderski, Associate Professor at SWPS University, the Secretary of the Program Committee, Head of the Center for Research on the Economics of Memorial Sites  

On September 28, 2018, Associate Professor Adam Szpaderski, Head of the Center for Research on the Economics of Memorial Sites at SWPS University, signed a cooperation agreement with the Central Museum of Prisoners of War, represented by dr. Violetta Rezler-Wasielewska, Ph.D., Director of the Museum. The agreements will facilitate cooperation of both parties related to the development of research on the economics of memorial sites, which will include sets of best practices and measures of effectiveness related to the economic, financial and management aspects of the development, preservation, commemoration and functioning of memorial sites.

On September 26, 2018, Associate Professor Adam Szpaderski, Head of the Center for Research on the Economics of Memorial Sites at SWPS University, signed a cooperation agreement with the Museum of Pawiak Prison in Warsaw and the Mausoleum of Struggle and Martyrdom, represented by dr. Tadusz Skoczek, Ph.D., Director of the Museum of Independence in Warsaw, and Małgorzata Łusiak, Chief Accounting Officer. The agreements will facilitate cooperation of the afore-mentioned parties related to the development of research on the economics of memorial sites, which will include sets of best practices and measures of effectiveness related to the economic, financial and management aspects of the development, preservation, commemoration and functioning of memorial sites.

On September 21, 2018, Associate Professor Adam Szpaderski, Head of the Center for Research on the Economics of Memorial Sites at SWPS University, signed a cooperation agreement with the Treblinka Museum. The Nazi German Extermination Camp and Forced Labor Camp (1941-1944), represented by dr. Edward Kopówka, Ph.D., Director of the Museum. The agreement will facilitate cooperation of both parties related to the development of research on the economics of memorial sites, which will include sets of best practices and measure of effectiveness related to the economic, financial and management aspects of the development, preservation, commemoration and functioning of memorial sites.

Days of Remembrance of the Victims of the Gestapo organized by the Historical Museum of the City of Kraków took place from 13 to 15 September, 2018 in Kraków. One of the main panelists in the discussion that opened the event’s conference on Memorial Sites: Present and Future was Associate Professor Adam Szpaderski, Head of the Center for Research on the Economics of Memorial Sites at SWPS University, who presented the economic and managerial determinants of the institutionalization of memorial sites related to the Nazi German camp system in Poland and Europe. Days of Remembrance of the Victims of the Gestapo event was hosted by the Mayor of the City of Kraków. The conference was organized under the auspices of the Governor of the Lesser Poland Province and the Director of the Kraków branch of the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN).

A prestigious international conference, Research on the Role of Cultural Heritage in the Building of (National) Identity in Post Conflict Situations, took place from 10 to 12 September, 2018 at the Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw. The conference was opened by the Secretary of State at the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. The event was organized as part of the Joint Heritage European Program (JHEP2) focused on the coordination and actions supporting the Joint Program Initiatives on cultural heritage and global change. The Ministry of Culture and National Heritage is a beneficiary of the program. Associate Professor Adam Szpaderski, as the Head of the Center for Research on the Economics of Memorial Sites at SWPS University, was one of the guests at the conference. The conference was an excellent networking opportunity. The event was organized by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, the National Institute for Museums and Public Collections and the Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute.

The 9th Remembrance Forum: Conference of Martyrdom Museums in Poland took place from 5 to 6 September, 2018 at the Museum Stutthof in Sztutowo. At the conference, Associate Professor Adam Szpaderski, Head of the Center for Research on the Economics of Memorial Sites at SWPS University, delivered a lecture titled “The Economics of Memorial Sites: Research Assumptions and Advantages for the Sector.” The annual Remembrance Forum provides a platform for opinion leaders and leading experts from Poland and other countries, such as directors, curators, researchers, and also representatives of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. The event was organized by the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum and the Museum Stutthof in Sztutowo, represented by Piotr M. A. Cywiński, Ph.D., Director of Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum and Piotr Tarnowski, Director of the Museum Stutthof in Sztutowo.

On September 17, 2018, Associate Professor Adam Szpaderski, Head of the Center for Research on the Economics of Memorial Sites at SWPS University, signed a cooperation agreement with the Museum Dulag 121, represented by Małgorzata Bojanowska, Director of the Museum. The agreement will facilitate cooperation of both parties related to the development of research on the economics of memorial sites, which will include sets of best practices and measures of effectiveness related to the economic, financial and management aspects of the development, preservation, commemoration and functioning of memorial sites. Museum Dulag 121 in Pruszków commemorates and documents the history of the Nazi German transit camp Dulag 121 and the life stories of inhabitants of Warsaw and the surrounding areas, who were expelled from their homes by Germans during and after the 1944 Warsaw Uprising.