Remaining survivors at centre of 80th anniversary of Auschwitz liberation
A ceremony Monday marked 80 years since the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi concentration camp was attended by heads of state from around the world, but there was a particular focus on the voices of survivors – some of whom may not live to see another commemoration.
Auschwitz survivor Marian Turski on Monday condemned a "huge rise" in anti-Semitism, calling for "courage" against Holocaust deniers and conspiracy theorists, on the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camp.
"Today, and now, we see a huge rise in anti-Semitism and it is precisely anti-Semitism that led to the Holocaust," the 98-year-old told fellow survivors and world leaders at a ceremony by the gate of Auschwitz II-Birkenau.
Some 1.3 million people – most of them Jewish – were sent to Auschwitz during the four years it was in operation, but when Soviet troops liberated it on 27 January, 1945, there were only 7,000 people there.
The vast majority of those deported to the camp died at the camp – most sent to the gas chambers as soon as they arrived.
Located in occupied Poland, Auschwitz was part of a network of camps at the centre of Adolf Hitler's "Final Solution" to annihilate European Jews.
International delegations
The liberation was commemorated by some 3,000 people, with 50 international delegations, including French President Emmanuel Macron, Britain’s King Charles III, outgoing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Read more on RFI English
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