World leaders began converging on southern Poland Wednesday for two days of emotional ceremonies marking the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the biggest Nazi death camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau, where more than one million people died.
Events to mark the liberation of the camp by the Soviet Red Army began unofficially at the village of Harmeze, around five kilometers (three miles) from the notorious camp, as 100 people gathered for an ecumenical prayer service for all victims of World War II, including at least 1.1 million who died at Auschwitz, most of them Jews..
It was in Harmeze that the Nazis dumped ashes of many of the victims of the camp's gas chambers and crematoria..
On Thursday, leaders from 44 countries including Russian President Vladimir Putin, his French counterpart Jacques Chirac, and the president of host nation Aleksander Kwasniewski, will stand alongside survivors of the camp and soldiers of the former Soviet troops in a solemn tribute to the victims of Auschwitz..
The main ceremony will begin amid tight security on Thursday at 2:30 pm (1330 GMT) at the memorial erected at Birkenau to the memory of the men, women and children who died at the camp..
Most of them were Jews sent to their deaths immediately on arrival at the Nazi death factory..
Because many of the victims were "selected" by the SS for immediate extermination in specially built gas chambers, they were never registered at Auschwitz, making it impossible for historians to say precisely how many people died here. The actual death toll is believed to be as high as two million..
Among those who will address the main ceremony are Polish Foreign Minister Wladyslaw Bartoszewski -- Auschwitz prisoner number 4427 --, who will give a speech on behalf of the tens of thousands of Poles who died at the camp, not counting the hundreds of thousands of Polish Jews..
Former French health minister Simone Veil -- Auschwitz prisoner number 78651 -- will give a speech on behalf of Jewish victims and Romani Rose, president of Germany's Central Council of Sinti and Roma, for victims from Europe's gypsy community..
Late Tuesday President George W. Bush of the United States, which will be represented at Auschwitz by Vice President Dick Cheney, urged Americans to observe the anniversary of the liberation of the camp, saying the Holocaust showed "evil is real, but hope endures.".
"It is a sobering reminder of the power of evil and the need for people to oppose evil wherever it exists. It is a reminder that when we find anti-Semitism, we must come together to fight it," he said.
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has warned Germans to be vigilant against the rise of neo-Nazism and anti-Semitism..
"That anti-Semitism still exists is not to be denied. It is the duty of all of society to fight against it," he said..
Moshe Kantor, head of the European Jewish Congress, which will host a forum on Thursday bringing together young people from around the world and the elderly survivors of Auschwitz and former Soviet soldiers who freed them, also warned against rising anti-Semitism in Europe..
"The situation in Europe is very similar to what happened just before World War II," Kantor told AFP in an interview Wednesday..
"The speed with which the Kristallnacht of 1938 turned into the infamous Wannsee conference of 1942 was just a historical second," he said..
The Kristallnacht, or Night of Broken Glass, was a nationwide pogrom launched in November 1938 in Germany, targeting Jews, while the Wannsee Conference in January 1942, brought together high-ranking German leaders to discuss the "final solution to the Jewish question in Europe.".
"From broken windows we reached the death camps in the blink of an eye. Today, we are standing on pieces of crystal in Europe again," Kantor said..
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Wednesday accused allied countries of knowing about Nazi Germany's efforts to wipe out Europe's 11 million Jews but doing nothing to prevent it..
"The state of Israel has learned the lesson of Auschwitz. It has learned to defend itself, to defend its people against its enemies and to serve as a place of shelter for Jews," Sharon said in a special session of the Knesset to mark the commemorations..
"The lesson is that we cannot rely on anyone but ourselves.".
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