Honoring the victims of Auschwitz-Birkenau
28.01.2020
As part of the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the German Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp Auschwitz-Birkenau, a commemorative event attended by survivors, Ambassador Emily Haber of Germany and representatives of Georgetown University was held at the Residence of the Ambassador of the Republic of Poland.
A documentary titled, “The Secret Web of Good Around Auschwitz,” dedicated to the residents of Oświęcim and the surrounding area who helped those imprisoned in the camp, was shown. The film, produced by Barbara Daczyńska, Magdalena Plewa-Ould and Jarosław Wilczak, documents the testimonies of over 20 individuals, including young people, who risked their lives to supply food and medicine to the prisoners of the Auschwitz concentration camp.
Ambassador Piotr Wilczek stated, “One needs an extraordinary level of resilience, humanity, and strong will to not only ensure that such evil will never return, but that the memory of those who perished will serve as eternal, somber proof of what humans are capable of committing.”
Honoring the victims of Auschwitz-Birkenau, Ambassador Emily Haber of Germany underscored that Nazi Germany was responsible for the crimes that took place on Polish soil. Anna Sommer Schneider, Associate Director and Associate Teaching Professor in the Center for Jewish Civilization at Georgetown University, spoke about Jewish and non-Jewish victims of the camp, of which many were sentenced to torturous, inhumane labor (Auschwitz I), and Jews were exterminated en masse in gas chambers (Auschwitz II – Birkenau).