80 years after Auschwitz: Memory of the victims of the Holocaust!

80 years after Auschwitz: Memory of the victims of the Holocaust!

Today, on January 27, 2025, the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp will be committed. This commemoration takes place both internationally and locally in Neuwied, where the group of Amnesty International commemorates the victims of fascism at the memorial. Inge Rockenfeller opens the memorial lesson and emphasizes the atrocities of the Holocaust, in which 6 million Jews were systematically murdered under the National Socialist regime. In the context of these terrible events, Martin Niemöller is mentioned as a formative figure of resistance against Hitler, which was recorded in prisons and concentration camps from 1937 to 1945 before it was freed in 1945. reports that Mayor Jan Einig demands a minute's silence for the late pastor Werner Zuspp, who fought for democracy and against racism for a long time.

The commemoration is continued by Susanne Kudies, spokeswoman for Amnesty, who is reminiscent of Oskar Schindler. Schindler saved over 1,300 Jews from deportation by employing her as a forced laborer in his factory. Kudies reads a quote from Schindler: "If you see that people need help and you know that you can help, don't hesitate! Stand up and do it!" The reading of an excerpt from the idea of ​​a descendant of Schindler-Jewen by Kudies is particularly touching. Rockenfeller points out that there are still dictatorships today and calls for solidarity with people who oppose them. Amnesty supports those who uncover grievances and thus raise public awareness. Auschwitz.org informs that the central commemorative event at 4:00 p.m. takes place in a special tent at the former gate of the camp, which is symbolically supported by a freight car.

To celebrate the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, all survivors are invited to participate. State delegations and institutions also take part in the commemoration. A TV signal, produced by the Polish television institution, is transmitted worldwide to enable global reflection on the events of the Holocaust. Institutions are asked to create a space in which the transmission can be viewed together. This is in the context of the fight against forgetting and the request to reflect on the atrocities of the past. The museum will be closed to the public on January 26th and 27th, but offers a special open area for commemorative visitors.

In the liberation on January 27, 1945, around 7,000 survivors were saved by the Red Army, including around 500 children. In the years between 1940 and 1945, an estimated 1.1 million people were murdered in Auschwitz, mostly Jews, but also Polishes, Roma and Soviet prisoners of war. The memory work in this place of shame remains a central task of society. January 27th was declared in 2005 by the United Nations General Assembly as an international day of commemoration to the victims of the Holocaust, while in Germany the "day of commemoration to the victims of National Socialism" has been celebrated in Germany.