Survivors take centre stage at Auschwitz liberation commemoration

The voices of the survivors are expected to be at the forefront of the commemoration ceremony for the 81st anniversary of the liberation of the former German Nazi concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz-Birkenau.

To ensure full attention is given to the testimonies of the former inmates, the memorial site in Poland has deliberately refrained from including speeches by politicians and diplomats this year, its director Piotr Cywiński stressed.

Cywiński told the news agency PAP that the memories of the survivors are a great gift that has often been underestimated in the past. "In them, we find the reference points urgently needed today, wise warnings, indispensable protective mechanisms and insights that go beyond our time," he said.

The participation of the survivors holds special significance because many of them are already very elderly.

Commemorations also in Germany

Numerous events are also taking place in Germany to remember the victims of Nazi terror.

The Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp symbolizes the Holocaust and the horrors of Nazism. Around 1.1 million people died there between 1940 and 1945, most of whom were Jews. They were shot, murdered in gas chambers or died from hunger and disease.