Anniversary of Liberation and Desolation
The presidents of France, Russia and Israel are expected to attend the 60th anniversary of the Auschwitz death camp's liberation on January 27, Polish officials said yesterday. Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia, Jacques Chirac of France and Moshe Katsav of Israel are due to join their Polish counterpart, Aleksander Kwasniewski, in commemorations at the former Nazi camp in southern Poland.
A high-level U.S. representative is also expected to attend, but has not yet been identified, according to the Council for the Preservation of Monuments to Struggle and Martyrdom, a Polish government agency that preserves historic sites.
Between 1 million and 1.5 million prisoners perished in gas chambers or died of starvation and disease at Auschwitz, most of them Jews. Soviet troops liberated the camp on Jan. 27, 1945.
Overall, 6 million Jews were killed in the Nazi Holocaust.
Germany has marked January 27 as a Holocaust remembrance day since 1996.