King visits Jewish community in Krakow ahead of Auschwitz commemorations
death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Heads of state and world leaders will assemble at the site, paying tribute to those who lost their lives as a result of the Nazi regime.
He met Holocaust survivors at the Krakow Jewish Community Centre he opened in 2008 and was greeted by dozens of well-wishers outside the building.
Some individuals extended their hands for the King to shake hands with them, while others held up their mobile phones to take photographs of the King's visit.
When the town, which was in Nazi-occupied Poland, was freed, the King stated: "I feel I must attend the 80th anniversary, it's of vital significance."
Remembrance services started earlier at the former concentration camp when Poland's President Andrzej Duda joined survivors of Auschwitz in laying wreaths and lighting candles at the site.
Visitors have been placing tributes at a recreation of the Death Wall, the location where a considerable number of Polish political prisoners were shot.
The Honourable Mr Duda said in a speech, "we Poles are the custodians of history's memory now" and it is our obligation to preserve the life accounts of those who survived.
Over one million people, primarily Jews, but also others including Poles and Soviet prisoners of war, were brutally murdered at Auschwitz-Birkenau by the Nazis during World War Two. This slaughter was a part of the Holocaust that saw the tragic loss of six million Jewish men, women and children.
The camp was freed by soldiers from the 60th Army of the First Ukrainian Front who unlocked the gates on 27 January 1945.
The ceremony will take place in front of the entrance to the former Nazi concentration camp, where the dismal sign "Arbeit Macht Frei – work sets you free –" hung ominously above.
Survivors of Auschwitz are expected to speak to the guest list, which includes France's president Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, The King and Queen of the Netherlands, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima, and King Philip VI and Queen Letizia of Spain.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has been confirmed as attending as well.
.
Post a Comment for "King visits Jewish community in Krakow ahead of Auschwitz commemorations"