Survivors mark liberation from Auschwitz on 80th anniversary
Survivors mark liberation from Auschwitz on 80th anniversary
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World leaders, royalty and dignitaries are meeting at Auschwitz-Birkenau today to mark the 80th anniversary of its liberation, but the remaining survivors and their message will remain the focus of events. The King will be among those travelling to Poland to remember more than a million people murdered there - mostly Jews who were among around six million killed during the Holocaust by the Nazis.
The ceremony - available to watch on Sky News from 2pm - will be held in front of the infamous gates of the former concentration camp which had the words Arbeit Macht Frei, "work sets you free", above it. Survivors will place a light in front of a freight train carriage - a symbol of the event.
Charles, with other heads of state and government, will lay lights in memory of those who died during the Holocaust during the Second World War. The carriage - manufactured in Germany - represents just one part of the harrowing ordeal people endured as they were deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player. Survivors will address guests, expected to include France's President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, along with the king and queen of both the Netherlands and Spain. Auschwitz survivor: 'You worked until you could work no more - then you went to the chimney'.
'My mother sacrificed herself for me': Escape from the train of death. Auschwitz survivor fears the 'world hasn't learnt from WWII' ahead of 80th anniversary of camp's liberation. Later historic landmarks across the UK are lighting up in purple to mark Holocaust Memorial Day at 8pm.
