Jan. 27 (UPI) — Holocaust survivors and their supporters marked the 80th recognition of Soviet Union soldiers liberating Auschwitz on Monday.
About 50 survivors returned to the site where some 1.1 million Jews and others were killed in the largest recorded mass execution of humans.
Polish Prime Minister Andrzej Duda joined survivors in placing wreaths and candles at the base of Poland’s “death wall” as he declared that the people of Poland must serve as the “guardians of memory today.”
“May the memory of all the murdered live on, may the memory of all the dead live on, may the memory of all those who are suffering live on,” Duda said, adding that the memory must be carried on “in order to never let it happen again.”
Eva Umlauf said she has the tattoo A-26959 on her forearm skin, placed there by Auschwitz officials when she was 2 before Soviet soldiers liberated the camp and saved her and her family.
“You are just a number,” said Umlauf, who is now a pediatrician in Munich, Germany, according to NBC News. “But this number is not only on your skin. This is deeper.”
While no politicians are being allowed to speak, world leaders were expected to attend the commemorations, including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and French President Emmanuel Macron.
Britain’s King Charles III was also in attendance and was expected to speak at a Jewish community center.
Elsewhere on Monday, at the United Nations, attendees stood for a moment of silence, and Israel President Isaac Herzog spoke in memory of the victims of the Holocaust.
