January 27th 2005, LX Aniversary of the camp's liberation by the Red Army. Only 7.500 prisoners were left, but over 1,5 million had been murdered there.





NEVER AGAIN.

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"War is less costly than servitude, the choice is always between Verdun and Dachau." - Jean Dutourd, French veteran of both world wars

"A mon fils: depuis que tes yeux sont fermes les miens n’ont cessé de pleurir." - Mère française, Verdun

World marks Auschwitz liberation

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4210841.stm

Holocaust survivors and world leaders have held an emotional ceremony in Poland, 60 years after the liberation of the Nazis' Auschwitz death camp.


Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski and Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed the crowd. But German President Horst Koehler remained silent, in recognition of Germany's role as perpetrator of the Holocaust.

Touring the camp with survivors before the ceremony, he said: "We have the duty to ensure that something like this never happens again - and we Germans in particular."

As the light began to fade, the Jewish prayer for the dead, the Kaddish was sung. It was followed by Christian prayers - Roman Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant.

Then, former inmates and veterans of the Soviet Red Army led a candle-lighting ceremony to remember the dead.

Flames were lit along the railway tracks and the evocative sounds of a whistle, a stopping train, and a door being flung open, were played over loud-speakers.

Other world figures at the ceremony included US Vice-President Dick Cheney and UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw.

In the nearby Polish city of Krakow, before the ceremony in Auschwitz, Mr Putin spoke out against anti-Semitism and admitted that it was a problem in his country.

Even in our country, in Russia, which did more than any to combat fascism, for the victory over fascism, which did most to save the Jewish people, even in our country we sometimes unfortunately see manifestations of this problem and I, too, am ashamed of that," he said.

French President Jacques Chirac, opening an exhibit in honour of French victims, said his country must bear its responsibility for the deportation of Jews from Nazi-occupied France.

In the German capital, Berlin, parliament held a special ceremony including an address by a German-Jewish camp survivor, Arno Lustiger, and the readings of poems by a man murdered in Auschwitz.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/4213389.stm


http://www.bbc.co.uk/leeds/content/a..._feature.shtml

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/h...itz/html/1.stm

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Here are a few pictures I took of Oswiecim (Auschwitz I) and Brzezinka(Auschwitz II)

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VERY good pictures, Polak, I must admit!

Thank you a lot.

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"War is less costly than servitude, the choice is always between Verdun and Dachau." - Jean Dutourd, French veteran of both world wars

"A mon fils: depuis que tes yeux sont fermes les miens n’ont cessé de pleurir." - Mère française, Verdun

No problem. The simple words "never again" are exactly what we should all think.

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Here are two more shots.
The lower one is the remains of one of the now-collapsed crematoriums in Auschwitz II (Brzezinka).
The crematorium in Auschwitz I is still in good condition, and that is where I took the picture of the ovens.

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Thank you for sharing these remarkable photographs Polak z Polski.

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This information has been posted for non-commercial, educational, and research purposes.
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"The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here." - Abraham Lincoln, Nov. 19, 1863
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"The past is not dead. In fact, it's not even past." - William Faulkner

Very good pictures. Do you happen to know who pays to maintain the grounds and buildings and who owns the site ?

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Work Harder ! Millions on welfare are depending on you.

My pleasure


Thank you. Here is an excerpt from the museum's site, that gives the answer to your question.
The website is: http://www.auschwitz-muzeum.oswiecim.pl/
The site is in English, German, and Polish

I suggest that you guys take a trip to the camp one day. It makes a huge impression on you, first Auschwitz 1, where most of the exhibits are located. (with things like piles of prisoners' personal belongings that were stolen by the nazis, photos, the "Arbeit Macht Frei" gate etc. and of course the site of the concentration camp itself. The intact crematorium, with the gas chamber is also located here, as is Maximillian Kolbe's cell.) I went with a group and a guide, who explained things that I never knew about the camp. I would suggest going with a tour guide, even though there is a small fee.
"Guides (there are more than 150 of them) are available to serve visitors in Croatian, Czech, Dutch, English, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Spanish, and Swedish."


Next, Auschwitz II, which is a mere three kilometers away. This is camp is different. It has been kept almost as it was since WWII. Here you will not find many exhibits, like in the first camp. Instead, you walk through the enourmous monstrosity, seeing the many barracks where starving people once slept, the place where prisoners were unloaded from trains, where their fates, live in this hell, or be gassed, were decided. This camp is so huge that even though there are others touring it too, you feel alone. It has a sad eerie, almost foreboding feel to it, as if by not being careful, you could cause the war to reappear around you, plunging you into that hell, aong with the prisoners who once lived and died there.

I really hope that everyone gets to see this place, and come out realizing we people are all different, but not that different. We may disagree about things, but we musn't hate each other.

God Bless

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Thanks again for the information, Polak.

And let me tell you, honsestly, that those photographs show you have some great skills for photography, technically and artistically speaking.

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"War is less costly than servitude, the choice is always between Verdun and Dachau." - Jean Dutourd, French veteran of both world wars

"A mon fils: depuis que tes yeux sont fermes les miens n’ont cessé de pleurir." - Mère française, Verdun

Why, thank you

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Co nam obca przemoc wziela,
Szabla odbierzemy