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60th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau

On Thursday, over a thousand prisoners of the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp, leaders of more than 40 countries -including, Poland, Israel, Russia, France, the USA and Germany - commemorated the 60th anniversary of the Red Army's liberation of the camp where the Germans exterminated around 1.5 million people.

The anniversary celebrations at the site of the former Auschwitz-Birkenau camp began with a half-hour delay. Guests from various countries took their seats in front of the International Monument to the Victims of the Camp amidst falling snow and freezing temperatures at 14:00. About 5 thousand persons attended the ceremony.

In the morning, the Forum "Let My Nation Live" was held in Cracow as part of the anniversary celebrations.

The ceremonies in Auschwitz-Birkenau, attended by delegations from more than 40 countries, including Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski, Israeli President Mosze Kacaw, Russian President Vladimir Putin, US Vice President Dick Cheney, and French and German Presidents Jacques Chirac and Hoerst Koehler, took place at the international monument to the victims of the camp, erected near the railway ramp where the Nazis conducted the selection of prisoners. Persons considered unfit to work were sent directly to the gas chambers. The ceremony began with the sound of an approaching train.

Władysław Bartoszewski, in his speech as a representative of Auschwitz prisoners, stated that prisoners have the right to believe that their suffering and the death of their loved ones had a significant influence for a better future for all people. He firmly stressed that no country in the world reacted appropriately to the news from Poland regarding the tragedy of Auschwitz, and adequate response to these reports could have saved the lives of over half of the eventual victims.

Pope John Paul II in his message delivered during the ceremony by the Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Jozef Kowalczyk emphasised that "no one should be indifferent to the tragedy of the Shoa. According to the Holy Father, the truth about Auschwitz is a call for the contemporary generation to take responsibility for the shape of history.
In the opinion of the Polish president, words cannot convey the whole horrifying truth about the atrocities that were committed in Auschwitz.

"We must speak, remember and cry out: it was hell on Earth, here!" - he said. "We still can't forget that it's +people who prepared such fate for their fellow humans+." - said Kwaśniewski.
In turn, Russian President Putin stressed that it is necessary to state clearly and unequivocally: all attempts to revise history, to put victims and executioners, liberators and occupants in one group, is immoral and unacceptable. He also pointed out that terrorism is no less dangerous and insidious than fascism.

Mosze Kacaw pointed out that the act of extermination was carried out by a nation that produced the greatest scientists, musicians. As he said, many of them knew about the murders but chose to remain indifferent. "The world knew about the extermination and remained silent." - said Kacaw. "60 years after the Shoah, and we are facing a resurgence of anti-Semitism." - he added.

The Chief Rabbi of Russia Berel Lazar presented Presidents Kwaśniewski and Putin with silver medals - the Star of David.
After the official speeches in Auschwitz-Birkenau, the sound of the Shofar, a ram's horn used for Jewish religious ceremonies, resounded, while Catholic, Orthodox, Evangelical and Jewish clergy said their prayers.

Earlier in Krakow, the participants of the Forum "Let My Nation Live" appealed: "We must not forget one of the greatest crimes in human history that took place at the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau, such evil must not be allowed ever to occur again”. The title of the Forum was derived from the Bible - it is the supplication of the Biblical Queen Esther, who saved the Jews from a pogrom.

Several hundred guests, including former prisoners, former soldiers of the Red Army who liberated the camp, state leaders, youth, scholars, intellectuals and artists, gathered at the Słowacki Theatre, the venue of the Forum.

President Kacaw also spoke about the need to protect the memory of the holocaust. "If any generation fails to protect this memory, the holocaust may occur again."
The President of Russia spoke about the fact that the tragedy of Auschwitz is a great warning to humanity for centuries to come. He arrived at the theatre while the ceremony was underway. In his opinion, the Holocaust today is perceived not only as a national tragedy of the Jews but as a human disaster.

"We are obliged to proclaim with one voice to present and future generations: no one can and has no right to be indifferent to anti-Semitism, nationalism, xenophobia, racial and religious intolerance". - said, Putin. He added that he is ashamed of anti-Semitism in Russia.