Jan. 27 is International Holocaust Remembrance Day, established in 2005 by the United Nations General Assembly.
WARSAW, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Auschwitz survivors and global leaders gathered at the site of the Auschwitz concentration camp in southern Poland on Monday to commemorate the 80th anniversary of its liberation.
The ceremony drew an array of international dignitaries, including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, King Charles III of the United Kingdom, French President Emmanuel Macron and Polish President Andrzej Duda, along with representatives from approximately 60 countries and international organizations.
The main commemoration took place at 4 p.m. local time (1500 GMT) in a large tent erected near the iconic main gate of Auschwitz II-Birkenau, the largest of the extermination camps. Around 3,000 attendees, including Holocaust survivors, their families, and world leaders, joined to honor the victims and reflect on the horrors of the Holocaust.
Duda paid tribute to the victims during the ceremony, emphasizing Poland's role in preserving these historical sites. "Poland takes care of those sites to protect the memory, to keep it alive, so people always remember," he said.
Jan. 27 is International Holocaust Remembrance Day, established in 2005 by the United Nations General Assembly. Duda highlighted the significance of the day, paying tribute to the victims, including over 3 million Polish citizens of Jewish heritage who were killed by Nazi Germany during World War II.
The Auschwitz concentration camp was established by the Nazis in 1940. At least 1.1 million people were murdered there. The Soviet Army liberated the camp on Jan. 27, 1945, a date now serves as a global reminder of the need to remember and confront the horrors of the Holocaust.
