Commemoration ceremonies have been held to mark the 86th anniversary of the first transport of prisoners to the Nazi death camp of Auschwitz in German-occupied Poland.
The ceremony at the site of the former camp was attended by various participants, including trainees from Volkswagen, according to Christoph Heubner, deputy chairman of the International Auschwitz Committee, News.Az reports, citing Deutsche Welle.
Speaking in Berlin, Heubner stressed the importance of involving young people in preserving the memory of the atrocities committed at Auschwitz.
He said the first prisoners, 728 young Poles and Polish Jews, quickly understood the brutal reality of the camp and later used their knowledge of its operations and the behavior of SS guards to help prisoners who arrived afterward.
According to Heubner, many survivors who were deported to Auschwitz later remembered the first inmates with appreciation and gratitude.
Most of the first prisoners had reportedly been attempting to leave Poland to join foreign forces fighting against the German occupation.
More than one million people, including around 960,000 Jews, were murdered at Auschwitz before the camp was liberated by the Soviet Red Army on January 27, 1945.
The International Auschwitz Committee, founded in 1952 by survivors of the camp, continues its work supporting survivors and combating racism and antisemitism.
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