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Former Prisoners Pay Tribute to Auschwitz Victims

Former prisoners, officials, and school students rendered homage to the victims of Auschwitz during commemorations on Tuesday of the 65th anniversary of the first deportation transport. They laid wreaths and lit candles at the Death Wall, where the Germans shot at least several thousand people.

In brief remarks, the honorary president of the Christian Association of Auschwitz Families, Jerzy Bielecki (camp number 243), a former prisoner from that first transport, said that “the day will come when no former Auschwitz prisoners are numbered among the living.

“It will then be up to you,” he went on, “to pass the historical truth on to the following generations. We, the former Polish political prisoners of Auschwitz Concentration Camp, call upon Polish society to see that the historical message remains honest, so that no victim of this place is ever forgotten. This is the only way to safeguard the message of Auschwitz for the sake of peaceful coexistence and for combating hatred between people.”

Bielecki noted that “June 14 is a noteworthy day, especially for us Poles.” He said that “the history of Auschwitz, and therefore the martyrdom of the Polish people in this camp, began on this very day. After the Jews, the Poles made up the largest group of victims.”

Polish prime minister Marek Belka sent a letter to those attending the ceremony, in which he wrote that they should pass knowledge about Auschwitz on to their children and grandchildren: “I know that you are doing so, and this is also a sacred obligation for the entire nation.”