Good evening, readers. Today, I’ll be talking to you about a very significant day we celebrate this January which commemorates the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau.

International Holocaust Remembrance Day, celebrated on January 27th, is a time to remember and recognise the nearly seven million Jewish victims of the Holocaust, as well as all the other victims of Nazi persecution.

For those unaware of the specifics of the Holocaust, it was the persecution and murder of Jewish [and other groups of] people, and one of the largest genocides to ever occur. Anti-semitism and hate against Jewish people rose like mountains in Nazi Germany during WWII and under the leadership of Hitler, which meant millions of Jewish people were taken to concentration camps. They were taken captive by Nazi soldiers, separated from their families, and sent to die in those camps. Some of them were used in labs and medical experiments, while many others went through manual labour in harsh conditions, without proper food, clothing, and healthcare.

Let’s talk more about Auschwitz-Birkenau now. Auschwitz was a former concentration camp, and one of the largest extermination sites for Jewish people, where prisoners were forced into a death march. January 27th, 1945, the Soviet Red Army was able to liberate Auschwitz, which at that time, had become a place where the deaths of over one million Jewish citizens had taken place.

The worst part is that many were shocked at the crime rates conducted by the Nazis. The prejudice against Jews wasn’t a big secret, but many of these concentration camps were, and many of the Allies weren’t able to understand the gravity of the situation until they were able to see it for themselves. The Nazis were able to conceal the murders, destroy a large amount of evidence, and use propaganda to keep much of the public outside of Germany completely unaware.

This historical event was a devastating and horrifying genocide that left massive impacts on families of victims and the rest of the world. It’s important for us to recognise the victims by confronting anti-semitism and hate in our daily lives, and informing others of what happened so many years ago.

Written by Daphne Clarke.
Edited by Hazel Antler.
Proofread by Sara Rowan.