Monarchs, presidents and prime ministers are expected among the attenders at a commemoration event for the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz later this month, but none of them will be let near a microphone.
In a first for a “round” anniversary of the liberation, the Auschwitz museum has banned all speeches by politicians at the event on 27 January, which will mark 80 years since the day Soviet troops liberated the camp in 1945. Only Auschwitz survivors will speak, in what is likely to be the last big commemoration when many are still alive and healthy enough to travel.