Around 50 survivors of the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz gathered together Monday for the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the camp.
The ceremony, at the former death camp, was opened by music from German Jewish composer James Simon, who was killed at Auschwitz in 1944, per NBC.
The survivors were joined at the ceremony in Poland by a variety of world leaders, including Polish President Andrzej Duda, French President Emmanuel Macron, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Britain’s King Charles III. Kings and queens from Spain, Denmark and Norway were also in attendance.
Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz and President Frank-Walter Steinmeier were also in attendance, and, according to NPR, it’s the first time both of the country’s highest state representatives have attended the observances.
The politicians did not speak at the ceremony; rather, it centered on the elderly survivors who were there, some of whom were wearing blue-and-white striped scarves, reminiscent of their prison uniforms, per CNN.
The camp survivors walked together to the Death Wall, the site where prisoners were executed, per NPR.
What happened at Auschwitz?
Between 1940 and 1945, there were around 1.1 million people murdered at Auschwitz. Many of the victims of the camp were Jews but other victims include Poles, the Roma and Soviet prisoners of war. They died in gas chambers, but also from starvation, cold and disease.
The concentration camp, located in Oświęcim, Poland, was liberated by Soviet soldiers on Jan. 27, 1945, per NBC. The United Nations, in 2005, designated Jan. 27 as International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
In total, around 6 million Jews were killed in German-occupied Europe between 1941 and 1945.
What Holocaust survivors shared in their speeches
The opening speech of the ceremony was from Marian Turski, 98, who was sent to the Lodz Ghetto at 14 years old. He recognized the “millions of victims who will never tell us what they experienced or felt.” He also had the crowd stand for a moment of silence, per NBC.
Tova Friedman, 86, one of the youngest of the survivors, was 6 years old when the camp was liberated on Jan. 27, 1945, according to CNN. She shared that since she was a little girl, she has celebrated liberation day every year as if it was her birthday.
“After all the children were gone and the courtyard was empty,” Friedman said. “I thought to myself, am I the only Jewish child left in the world?”
Jona Laks, 94, another Holocaust survivor, was 12 when she spent a year at the camp, and suffered through inhumane medical experiments with her twin sister. She shared that it is impossible to understand the suffering they went through after that invasion.
“As time passes over, things are being forgotten,” Laks said, according to CNN. “The world hasn’t learned its lessons from what happened, from what was done.”
Ninety-nine-year-old Leon Weintraub spent time in a ghetto and in Auschwitz; his mother, sister and aunt were murdered in the gas chambers at the camp. He shared that they were stripped of all humanity, according to NBC.
“First, we were stripped naked and robbed of all our house belongings. Then they shaved all our hair, quite often with painful skin removal,” Weintraub said.
Gov. Spencer Cox shares statement on Holocaust Remembrance Day
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox posted on X addressing Holocaust Remembrance Day.
“Today, we pause to remember the millions who lost their lives during the Holocaust. As we reflect on this dark chapter in history, we renew our commitment to fostering a world of understanding. Let us honor the survivors, the victims, and all those who suffered. May their stories remind us to stand against hate, today and always,” Cox wrote on X.