Today marks the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Nazi concentration camp, Auschwitz.

The day commemorates the mass murder of 1.1 million people during the World War II between 1940-1945, the vast majority of whom were Jews.

Three hundred Auschwitz survivors gathered at the concentration camp today in Southern Poland to commemorate the lives of those killed. Among the victims were homosexuals, people of colour and those with disabilities.
The memorial is considered to be the last major event in which survivors can gather in large numbers.

A talk and film showing was held at the University today featuring guest speaker Gertrude Silman, who survived the Holocaust after fleeing her hometown of Bratislava in what is now Slovakia.

 

The talk was run collectively by LUU’s JSOC and HistSoc, and was part of the launch for charity 70 for 70, which aims to maintain the memory of the holocaust by encouraging people to learn about a victim of the holocaust across 70 days, one for each year since the liberation of the death camps located in Auschwitz and nearby Birkenau.

 

Jake Hookem and Abla Klaa