Survivors Return as World Commemorates 80 Years Since Auschwitz Liberation

Monday commemorates Holocaust Memorial Day and the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz camp complex.

NBC News reports that Auschwitz, the largest extermination camp, symbolizes the genocide of six million Jews by Nazi Germany, where one million Jews and more than 100,000 non-Jews lost their lives between 1940 and 1945.

On Monday, elderly former inmates, some wearing scarves resembling the blue-and-white stripes of their death camp uniforms, laid flowers at the Wall of Death, honoring the victims in silence.

On January 27, 1945, soldiers liberated approximately 7,000 prisoners from Auschwitz, a sit e which aimed to exterminate the Jewish population. Eighty years later, former inmates returned to commemorate their liberation on International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

“It doesn’t do any good for your heart, for your mind, for anything,” Holocaust survivor Jona Laks, 94, told CNN. “But it’s necessary. “It’s necessary for the world to know.”

Holocaust survivors and guests sit at the Auschwitz-Birkenau former Nazi German concentration and extermination camp, during a ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of its liberation, in Oswiecim, Poland, Monday, Jan. 27. 2025. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

The survivors embody a powerful defiance against Adolf Hitler, with their stories serving as reminders of humanity’s capacity for violence. During World War II, the Nazis systematically murdered six million Jews, including about one million at Auschwitz, while also targeting Poles, the Romani, Soviet prisoners, LGBTQ+ individuals, and the disabled.

Eva Umlauf, who was just two years old during her liberation, still has the tattoo A-26,959 in her forearm.  Umlauf, now 82, attended the ceremony with family, viewing it as a moral obligation.

“You are just a number,” Umlauf, 82,  told NBC News. “But this number is not only on the skin. This is deeper.”

The anniversary comes amid rising antisemitism, reportedly exacerbated by recent global events. A survey revealed a troubling lack of Holocaust awareness, particularly among younger generations.

From left on the front row Belgium’s King Philippe, Belgium’s Queen Mathilde, Britain’s King Charles III, Denmark’s King Frederik X and Denmark’s Queen Mary sit at the Auschwitz-Birkenau former Nazi German concentration and extermination camp, before a ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of its liberation, in Oswiecim, Poland, Monday, Jan. 27. 2025. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

BBC News reports that the day began with survivors and Polish President Andrzej Duda laying a wreath at the “Death Wall” of the original Auschwitz camp. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer laid a wreath there recently, which was still present over the weekend.

The observance then moved to the Birkenau death camp, also known as Auschwitz II. Thirty years ago, there was less global attention, as noted by renowned author Elie Wiesel, as he led a group of survivors and relatives to one of the crematoria that the Nazis had destroyed before fleeing.

Meanwhile, Auschwitz attracted 1.83 million visitors last year. While the site is closed for the commemoration, many people wandered through the museum over the weekend, exploring the historic buildings of Auschwitz I and the vast grounds of Birkenau.

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[Feature Photo: People visit the Nazi concentration camp Sachsenhausen on the International Holocaust Remembrance Day, in Oranienburg, Germany, Monday, Jan. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)]