The 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the infamous Nazi death camp, was commemorated on January 27, 2025, in Poland. The event, widely viewed as the last major gathering of Holocaust survivors, saw elderly survivors, world leaders, and royalty come together to pay tribute to the victims and reaffirm the importance of remembering this historical tragedy.
Survivors and relatives gathered at the Auschwitz -Birkenau former Nazi German concentration and extermination camp in Oswiecim, Poland on January 27, 2025, to mark the 80th anniversary of its liberation by Soviet troops. This year's ceremony holds particular significance as it is widely seen as the last major observance that will see a considerable number of survivors in attendance. During World War II, Nazi German forces murdered an estimated 1.1 million people at the site in southern Poland.
Most victims were Jews systematically killed in gas chambers, but the camp also saw the deaths of many Poles, Roma, Soviet prisoners of war, gay individuals, and others targeted for elimination under Nazi racial ideology. Elderly survivors, some wearing blue-and-white striped scarves reminiscent of their prison uniforms, walked solemnly to the Death Wall, where prisoners were executed, including numerous Poles who resisted the Nazi occupation. They were joined by Polish President Andrzej Duda, whose nation lost 6 million citizens during the war. President Duda, carrying a candle, walked alongside Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum director Piotr Cywinski. At the wall, the two men bowed their heads, offered silent prayers, and made the sign of the cross. 'We Poles, on whose land — occupied by Nazi Germans at that time — the Germans built this extermination industry and this concentration camp, are today the guardians of memory,' President Duda remarked to reporters afterward. He spoke of the 'unimaginable pain' inflicted upon countless individuals, particularly the Jewish people, and described the dozens of survivors attending the observances as 'the last survivors coming to this site.' The Holocaust, a systematic genocide orchestrated by Nazi Germany, resulted in the deaths of 6 million Jews from across Europe. This atrocity wiped out two-thirds of Europe's Jewish population and one-third of all Jews worldwide. In 2005, the United Nations designated January 27 as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Later in the day, world leaders and royalty will join the elderly survivors, many in their 80s. This year, politicians have not been invited to speak, with organizers prioritizing the survivors' experiences. Approximately 50 survivors are expected to attend. Among the notable attendees are Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz and President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, marking the first time Germany has sent both its highest state representatives to the commemorations. This gesture signifies Germany's continued commitment to acknowledging its past atrocities, even amidst the rise of a far-right movement seeking to downplay or deny the Holocaust. French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will also be present, along with Britain's King Charles III. Representatives from Spain, Denmark, and Norway's royal families are also expected to attend.
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