VILNIUS, Lithuania — UNESCO has postponed a decision on a Polish request to change the official name of the Auschwitz concentration camp after members of the World Heritage Committee could not agree on the issue, U.N. officials said yesterday.

The Polish government wants to change the official name of the notorious death camp where an estimated 1.5 million people were killed during World War II from “Auschwitz Concentration Camp” to the “Former Nazi German Concentration Camp Auschwitz-Birkenau.”

The Poles say the change is necessary to show future generations that Poland had no role in establishing or running the camp.

Members of UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee discussed the request yesterday, but could not reach a unanimous decision, a UNESCO spokesman, Roni Amelan, said.

The 21-member committee asked the Polish government to hold talks with countries that objected to the name change so that the issue could be taken up at next year’s meeting, he said.

“It seemed a good idea to discuss this with other state parties that had reservations,” Mr. Amelan said.

One of those with reservations was Israel’s committee member, Michael Turner, who called for consultations with historians and other experts before any name change is approved.

“We have to give it a lot more thought,” Mr. Turner said. “There was enormous pressure by a lot of people to ‘let’s just change the name.’ It’s not a p.r. job.”

Mr. Turner added that the current name was “serving its purpose.”