A group of survivors of Nazi death camps gathered in southern Poland on Saturday to commemorate the 79th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp during World War II. In a modest ceremony, approximately 20 survivors from various camps set up by Nazi Germany across Europe laid wreaths and flowers and lit candles at the Death Wall in Auschwitz.
The survivors later held prayers at the monument in Birkenau, paying homage to the approximately 1.1 million victims of the camp, the majority of whom were Jews. The Auschwitz memorial site and museum, located near the city of Oswiecim, serves as a somber reminder of the atrocities committed during the Holocaust.
The Holocaust remains one of the darkest chapters in human history, with nearly 6 million European Jews losing their lives to the Nazi regime's systematic genocide. As the world marked International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the survivors were joined by Polish Senate Speaker Malgorzata Kidawa-Blonska, Culture Minister Bartlomiej Sienkiewicz, and Israeli Ambassador Yacov Livne.
The theme of this year's observances centered around the value of human life, symbolized through simple, hand-drawn portraits. These portraits aimed to remind people that the horror of Auschwitz-Birkenau lies in the immense suffering endured by those held and killed in the camp.
Across Europe, various nations and leaders paid their respects to the Holocaust victims. In Germany, citizens placed flowers and lit candles at memorials dedicated to the victims of Nazi terror. Chancellor Olaf Scholz emphasized that Germany continues to carry the responsibility for this 'crime against humanity' and called on all citizens to defend democracy and combat antisemitism.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, himself Jewish and having lost relatives in the Holocaust, posted an image of a Jewish menorah on social media to mark the remembrance day. He stressed the importance of each new generation learning the truth about the Holocaust and emphasized that human life must always remain the highest value.
In Italy, Holocaust commemorations included a torchlit procession accompanied by official statements from political leaders. Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni declared her government's commitment to eradicating antisemitism, which she claimed had seen a resurgence during the recent Israel-Hamas conflict. Meloni's critics have raised concerns about her party's past affiliations with neo-fascism and their perceived inadequate atonement for past actions.
In Poland, a memorial ceremony with prayers was held in Warsaw on Friday at the Monument to the Heroes of the Ghetto in remembrance of those who fought against the Nazis in 1943.
Additionally, countries from the former Yugoslavia signed an agreement in Paris to jointly renovate Block 17 in the Auschwitz camp. The block will house a permanent exhibition honoring the approximately 20,000 people deported from their territories and brought to the camp. This collaborative effort includes Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Slovenia.
Preserving Auschwitz-Birkenau, a notorious symbol of the Holocaust's horrors, requires ongoing efforts by historians, experts, and substantial funds. The camp, comprised of old Austrian military barracks initially used as a concentration and death camp for Poland's resistance fighters, expanded to include wooden barracks, gas chambers, and crematoria in Birkenau for the extermination of Jews, Roma, Russian prisoners of war, and other nationals.
On January 27, 1945, Soviet Red Army troops liberated Auschwitz-Birkenau, discovering around 7,000 prisoners, including children and those too weak to walk. Tens of thousands of other inmates had been evacuated days earlier in what became known as the Death March, where many succumbed to exhaustion and the freezing weather.
Since 1979, the Auschwitz-Birkenau site has been recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site, serving as a powerful reminder of the Holocaust and a solemn call to never forget the horrors that occurred there.
