Survivors, dignitaries and world leaders including Prime Minister David Cameron of the U.K. gathered in Poland today to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.
The BBC reports:
Those who survived Auschwitz lived through one of the 20th Century’s worst acts of hatred and inhumanity. Many of those still alive today were children in 1945 but they are elderly now and this may be the last significant anniversary where so many will gather.
A huge, white temporary building has been erected over the brick railway buildings where many of the Jews of Europe were sorted into those who were fit enough for slave labour and those who would be taken straight to the gas chambers.
Candles have been lit at the Death Wall where prisoners were executed – small points of light in this wintry landscape of snow and ice, where Europe is remembering a time of darkness.
And here are some of the more memorable and poignant photos we’ve seen commemorating the event:
Ahead of the Holocaust Memorial Service I met inspirational survivors of that darkest hour in human history. #HMD2015 pic.twitter.com/Vor2fMMz95
— David Cameron (@David_Cameron) January 27, 2015
READ @David_Cameron:To our survivors, your legacy is always secure @CFoI #Auschwitz70 #HMD2015 http://t.co/wKdOFTSSf5 pic.twitter.com/ae8C1JBDtm
— CF Sri Lanka (@CFSriLanka) January 27, 2015
Recommended
Hitler Did Not Win->Michael & Marion Imtooch, escaped the Nazis, embracing their 100 great-grandson#tcot #Auschwitz pic.twitter.com/xAxxrmeKkh
— Amy Mek (@AmyMek) January 27, 2015
Today #Auschwitz70 @EP_President #HolocaustRemembranceDay to mourn lives that were destroyed & to honour th survivors pic.twitter.com/InemCAKWKY
— EU Parliament Photo (@Europarl_Photo) January 27, 2015
#Auschwitz70 #Poland Foreign Secretary @PHammondMP meeting #Holocaust survivors @Number10gov @holocaustuk pic.twitter.com/GecngMY9zA
— Robin Barnett (@AmbRobinBarnett) January 27, 2015
A Holocaust survivor returns to Auschwitz for the bar mitzvah he never had http://t.co/zfnfpLWpen pic.twitter.com/zCyG6xkWxp
— New York Times Video (@nytvideo) January 27, 2015
Wreaths laid by Auschwitz survivors on 70th anniversary of liberation http://t.co/ZncW751n0g #Auschwitz70 pic.twitter.com/N6fvfSkF3f
— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) January 27, 2015
The @USCShoahFdn facilitated first-hand lessons for a younger generation: http://t.co/B1F0MXl6KA #Auschwitz70 pic.twitter.com/A99uJFsAVf
— USC (@USC) January 27, 2015
"I can’t tell you how I lived in Auschwitz because I wasn’t alive any more." @AFPblogs http://t.co/fBrcpPRTHL pic.twitter.com/ARY7eFaWk0
— AFP news agency (@AFP) January 27, 2015
70 years later, former prisoners return to Auschwitz to recapture a photo of their liberation. http://t.co/mKGaNHIaiN pic.twitter.com/l18jvTpJiH
— Toronto Star (@TorontoStar) January 27, 2015
#Auschwitz70 survivors speak at ceremony in front of "Gate of death" in Birkenau http://t.co/EMPdO4mGyF pic.twitter.com/MPUmpNyfsF
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) January 27, 2015
Watch live: Moving ceremony remembers the liberation of #Auschwitz70 years on http://t.co/LhImVKLhvB pic.twitter.com/WsXg4XdR05
— ITV News (@itvnews) January 27, 2015
As the lead tweet in this post mentions, President Obama couldn’t attend today’s ceremony because he is at the memorial service for King Abdullah in Saudi Arabia, but the U.S. did send a delegation led by Treasury Secretary Jack Lew:
Przewodniczący delegacji USA na rocznicę Auschwitz Sek. Finansów Jack Lew z ocalałymi Irena Weiss i Israel Arbeiter. pic.twitter.com/PfgJclK5iZ
— Stephen D. Mull (@SteveMullUSA) January 27, 2015
And this nice wreath:
Today U.S. delegation laid a wreath for Auschwitz victims at the 'Wall of Death' #Auschwitz70 pic.twitter.com/ov27lGvDeT
— US Embassy Warsaw (@USEmbassyWarsaw) January 27, 2015
President Obama did issue a statement which was tweeted out by our embassy in Warsaw:
President Obama on #Auschwitz70 "We commemorate all of the victims of the Holocaust, pledging never to forget" http://t.co/u1JyndX7ac
— US Embassy Warsaw (@USEmbassyWarsaw) January 27, 2015
Note: The official White House account has yet to tweet anything about Auschwitz, but they do want you to watch this amusing video of Kal Penn in India:
Watch @KalPenn give you the inside scoop on President Obama's trip to India → http://t.co/2ggPpuuZQ6
— White House Archived (@ObamaWhiteHouse) January 27, 2015
Maybe the WH social-media team needs to reevaluate their priorities.
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