Auschwitz Birkenau - 69th anniversary of the liberation
On the 27th January 2014, 69 years have passed since the liberation of the Nazi German Auschwitz concentration and extermination camp. The anniversary ceremony, which took place in the former Auschwitz II - Birkenau camp were attended by former prisoners of Auschwitz and survivors of the Holocaust.
They were accompanied by representatives of the Polish authorities, including Cezary Grabarczyk - Deputy marshal of the Sejm of Poland, as well as a very large delegation of parliament of the Israel Knesset, which was led by Yaariv Levin - Head of the coalition, and Isaac Herzog leader of the opposition. President Bronislaw Komorowski of the Republic of Poland has extended his official patronage over the event.
This year's celebration of the anniversary of the liberation had a special character, because of the important upcoming anniversaries. This year marks 70 years since the beginning of the deportations of the Jews from Hungary to the camp. It was the largest extermination operation in the history of Auschwitz. Germans documented the process of deportation of Jews from Hungary, in more than 200 black and white photographs, which are today one of the most important evidence of that crime. The faces of the victims from that document were a visual symbol of the whole ceremony. Additionally, this year also marks the 70th anniversary of the liquidation of the so called Zigeunerlager at Birkenau, 70th anniversary of the deportation to Auschwitz of nearly 13,000 poles arrested during the Warsaw uprising, 70th anniversary of the extermination in Auschwitz Jews deported from the liquidated ghetto in Lodz, as well as the 70th anniversary of the revolt of prisoners from the Sonderkommando* at Auschwitz.
*Sonderkommando - Jewish prisoners that worked in the crematoria at the camps.
Cezary Grabarczyk, Deputy Marshal of the Polish Parliament, underlined that we should always react when the term 'Polish death camps' is used. 'It is a blow for both Poland and those who were murdered in this extermination camp, who become victims of such lies, such inaccurate statements, negligence or just plain ignorance. In my opinion, from Auschwitz-Birkenau, the former Nazi concentration and extermination camp, a clear answer should sound. It will honour the truth and the respect for those victims who we commemorate today, and will always remember' , said Cezary Grabarczyk.
The second part of the ceremony took place at the Monument to the Victims of the Camp at the site of the former Auschwitz II-Birkenau camp. The rabbis and clergy of various Christian denominations have read together the Psalm 42 from the second book of Psalms, and after that participants of the ceremony placed candles by the monument honouring the victims of Auschwitz.
Until the liberation of the camp by the Red army, the Nazis murdered in Auschwitz about 1.1 million people. Mostly Jews, but also Poles, Sinti and Roma, Soviet prisoners of war and people of other nationalities. Today Auschwitz is the symbol of the Holocaust and the atrocities of World War II. In 2005 the United Nations designated the 27th of January the International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
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