As Auschwitz Survivors Commemorate Liberation, They Sound Alarm on Increasing Anti-Semitism

OSWIECIM, Poland—Auschwitz survivors issued a stark warning about the growing threat of anti-Semitism on Monday, as they commemorated the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi German death camp by Soviet troops in what is likely one of the final gatherings of those who directly experienced its horrors.

Attended by prominent leaders including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Britain’s King Charles, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Polish President Andrzej Duda, the ceremony at the camp site—established by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland during World War II to exterminate European Jews on a massive scale—was a poignant moment of remembrance.

During the event, the survivors shared their stories without delivering speeches, providing a rare opportunity for world leaders to listen firsthand to the accounts of those who endured one of humanity’s greatest atrocities.

Israel, created for Jews in the aftermath of the Holocaust, was represented by Education Minister Yoav Kisch.

“In the modern world, we are witnessing a disturbing resurgence of anti-Semitism, the same force that fueled the Holocaust,” remarked 98-year-old Marian Turski, a survivor who was transported to Auschwitz in 1944 and later endured the westward ‘death march’ to Buchenwald in 1945.

Retired physician Leon Weintraub, aged 99, who was separated from his family and sent to Auschwitz in 1944, echoed Turski’s sentiments, cautioning against the dangers of intolerance.

Survivors Highlight the Resurgence of Anti-Semitism

Author and academic Tova Friedman, 86, expressed concern over the current global crisis unfolding 80 years after the liberation of Auschwitz, citing the overshadowing of Jewish-Christian values by prejudice, fear, suspicion, and extremism, as well as the alarming rise of anti-Semitism worldwide.

Addressing the audience, Friedman urged intensified efforts to combat the ideologies that led to the horrors witnessed at Auschwitz.

According to Ronald Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress, the surge in anti-Semitic incidents is intertwined with protests against Israel in various regions, particularly following Israel’s conflict with Hamas in Gaza in 2023.

Lauder also raised concerns about the influence of social media on spreading hatred, especially among young people.

Prior to the ceremony held at a tent erected over the entrance to the former Auschwitz II-Birkenau camp gate, leaders emphasized the crucial importance of preserving the memory of the Holocaust.

President Duda underscored the responsibility of the Polish people—whose land once hosted the German concentration camp—to serve as the custodians of this historical remembrance.