World remembers Auschwitz
Heads of government from around the world will be in southern Poland today to mark the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.
They will join survivors and veterans of Russia’s Red Army, which liberated the most notorious of the Nazi death camps on January 27th 1945.
Israeli president Moshe Katsav and German president Horst Koehler will be among those lighting candles at the camp’s main extermination complex, Birkenau.
More than 1.1 million people died at Auschwitz, most of them Jews.
Representing the UK will be Foreign Secretary Jack Straw. Speaking in advance, he said: “Today we remember the horrors of the Holocaust’s millions of innocent victims. We have to continuously learn from the lessons of history. Future generations cannot be allowed to forget the Holocaust. It is a time to reflect on the past but also a time to look to the future.
“Auschwitz has become a symbol of suffering and persecution on a scale which is unique in human history. It acts as a reminder to us all that the international community must work together to ensure that such atrocities can never be allowed to happen again.”
In the UK, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh will host a reception as St James’ Palace, before attending a remembrance service at Westminster Hall.
Auschwitz, which today lies under a sheet of snow, is still largely intact and serves as a constant reminder of the atrocities carried out by Nazi Germany.
The anniversary of the liberation of the camp has prompted many calls to ensure that such an event never happens again.
German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said the German people bore a “special responsibility” to ensure that the holocaust was remembered.
But Nobel laureate author and death camp survivor Elie Wiesel warned a special UN General Assembly session on the holocaust that its horrors were in danger being of forgotten.
“If the world had listened, we may have prevented Darfur, Cambodia, Bosnia and naturally Rwanda,” he said.
