krakow, poland | At the site of the most infamous Nazi death camps, Poland will take a special opportunity to remember and reflect on Thursday, Jan. 27, the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau.
In addition to world leaders, the most honored guests will be former prisoners of Auschwitz from many countries.
Jaime Ashworth, director of education at the Galicia Jewish Museum in Krakow, said the 60th anniversary is significant because “this might be the last time survivors participate to this extent in Holocaust commemoration ceremonies.”
This year’s event will draw an assortment of international dignitaries and leaders, including Israeli President Moshe Katsav, Ukrainian President-elect Viktor Yuschenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Pope John Paul II, originally from the Polish town of Wadowice, which lies approximately 25 miles from Oswiecim, as Auschwitz is know in Polish, sent French Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger — who was born Jewish — as his special envoy.
The last roll call at Auschwitz was taken on Jan. 17, 1945. The next day, some 60,000 prisoners were sent out of the concentration camp on death marches, headed to German camps in the west. Approximately 16,000 people were left behind in Auschwitz II, also called Birkenau.
Today more than half a million people visit Auschwitz each year.
Poland has a particularly complicated role in Holocaust remembrance. The Nazis chose Poland as the site of many death camps because it borders Germany and was in the center of occupied Europe.
More Jews — approximately 3.5 million — lived in prewar Poland than in any other country, and Poland lost more Jews than any other nation.
Today Poland is home to anywhere between 5,000 and 20,000 Jews, many unaffiliated with the Jewish community.
Liberated:
60 years after Auschwitz