>> ladies and gentlemen, let me welcome you to today's observation. let me welcome the former inmates and the survivors. [applause] let me welcome all of the distinguished guests from all over the world. including representatives of jewish communities and others. now i am asking the president of poland for his address. today's ceremony is under his patronage. [applause]

ladies and gentlemen, and especially you, the survivors. all distinguished guests, we are in the place where our civilization, and it plays where they plan to the bride men of their dignity was systematically executed, where german nazis, a human being was reduced to a camp number. 10 years ago, a survivor said, here, they kept my family imprisoned. here, they took my name away and gave me a number. never again was i me, i became a number.

we are standing in the place where over one million people were murdered. the overwhelmingly majority of them being jews. we are standing in the place that reminds us of the murders. it undermines the pillars of the world. it was exactly 70 years ago that the camp was liberated by the troops of the 60th army of the first ukrainian red army. on that day, in the afternoon, the division entered through the main part of the camp. it is with gratitude and respect

that we are thinking about those soldiers today. ladies and gentlemen, what was demonstrated in auschwitz was contempt for a human being. they wanted to kill again by forgetting. each and every one of you survivors of the camp, survivors of hatred and fatality, are the guardians of our memory. you are the most important part of today's commemoration. being a guardian of the memory of auschwitz and tells not only the remembrance of the crime

itself and also reflection, the nation's ideologies and state policies. this is the memory of the totalitarian regime that lay at the foundation of the collapse of our civilization of the 20th century. in a particular way, we guard this tragic memory. the regime began to execute. in 1940, the german occupation authority decided to go ahead with the campaign to exterminate the polish intelligence. the soviet leaders decided to commit certain crimes, mass murders of polish officers.

at the same time, germans made concentration camps for polish prisoners at the time. it was expanded later by adding the death camps. the german occupier made a tear of exceptional magnitude and the extermination of the european jews. nazis made poland an eternal cemetery of jews. this is exactly why poland occupies a role of the memory of auschwitz.

what is the memory of auschwitz today? it is mainly a memory of suffering. it is a remembrance of a wound that is still open and heard -- hurting. it is a memory of a cursed ways, a place that took a toll on everyone who ever came close. in memory of auschwitz, it is remembering that even in the face of the darkest fall of humanity, the greatest hero is sanctity. here, the world is being this joined and saved.

whosoever saves a single life saves an entire universe. here, these words are true. ladies and gentlemen, for over 70 years, we have been trying to convey to the world the truth of the evil inflicted in these german death factories. in the name of the truth. i think those who see the truth and speak about the perpetrators of this crime. the international auschwitz council do so in a unique way. the foundation thanks donors from all over the world as they

continued efforts to preserve the premises of the camps. you are contributing to the to the powerful sign of memory. it should be so. since the memory of auschwitz, it is also the memory of the need to defend our values -- freedom, justice, tolerance, and respect for human rights and civil freedoms. years ago, john paul the second said that auschwitz was the conscience of humanity. he warned that never can one nation developed at the cost of another at the price of making the defendant concord on the conquered, enslaved.

we shall remember what the violation -- from this place, we are condemning hatred. an auschwitz survivor said that all who forget our doomed to -- are doomed to relive it. our duty, the duty of europe and the world is to remember for those who suffered here for years.

it is our duty to remember for ourselves and for the future. [applause] >> today we all want to listen to the voice of the witnesses. i am now asking a former auschwitz inmate to take the floor. [applause]

>> i never let them die. today, requests, applications, letters, sanction, waiting from understanding for the memory. supposedly unnecessary, i never let them die. auschwitz's 70th anniversary. auschwitz is a place that used to be alone. my father used --

[indiscernible] this place began the only reality for me. it was a pit of hell that i could not get out of. all around us, electric barbed wire, stinking mud and a figures muddling through. you cannot tell if they are old o'er young. women are men. or men. a disgusting mass of people. nothing remotely human.

agony, hunger, sickness, diseases. death in a gas chamber. refined and sophisticated torture everywhere for anything and everything. all of this with nature's approval. it was used by the oppressors. those german songs that you have to sing. we were taunted by a german band.

sometimes they would ask us how far is it to the jewish colonies. i remember it was christmas. there was fire. fire burned human bodies and the trains with more victims. i was there, so very much there. a jewish child -- many a times did i fear out of fear and passion and pain. i would look and see the agony

of my fellow prisoners with a terrible pain. every moment was a terrible memory, terrible thoughts. what there be another one? there was a roll call. the sun was shining. i had a fleeting thought. maybe one day, i would burn this crematarium. when you are 14, you have a different idea of what death is. i survived. i lived to see the oppressors defeated it. then i saw the nazis burning documents. before they would lead people

for marches of death. i remember i was incapacitated because i was shot by one of the guards. it was 1945, a single shot. the guard aimed at my heart but he missed. all that happened was my nerve was damaged. i was liberated by the russians. it was one of the two last camps in germany. i lived to see the defeat of those henchmen. it was something my mother dreamed of before they took her away from me. before she died. it is fresh in my memory. as i am telling you, i am reliving. all that in human -- in human every night. people who died here, tortured

here, all that remains our ashes scattered by the wind. for me, the greatest debt is to pass on this memory, to tell others about how much they deserve to live. i want to tell the world about that. it is an overwhelming daily terror. i was 10 and then 15. it all transports me back to those moments. i would rather not forget all about. in my memory only can i be with my loved ones. even the photos were burned. those images are etched deep in my mind. through them, i can tell right from wrong and what the reality is like and i can be vigilant.

i can recognize evil lurking nearby. these memories make it impossible for me and i cannot reconcile it with the fact that people do not really understand what auschwitz was. what is life for a human being -- his life, the love the ones and a love of his nation. this life was threatened by others. people who want to take away someone's life, someone's possessions. there is this fear. there is a denial. all of that terrifies me. i feel outraged. i know what that hell can do if nobody stops it. the evil lingers and it is reborn into growing terror in anti-semitism and racism.

it grows in people. sometimes, when i am really stunned with what is happening i keep telling myself, auschwitz could actually be legal. if that is possible, worse things are possible. we need to oppose that. you have to oppose all of that so that no further prejudice occurs. and this museum, the ostrich museum -- all switch -- off to its -- all switch's office wits off memorial, they are doing great work. the management, the employees, they are all keeping those documents and memorials and they keep the testimony of witnesses.

they preserve all of that, this knowledge about the lives of millions of people, people so close to death. this memory of human strength, friendship, and love. here, i would like to thank the management of the museum and all of you. it is my privilege i can participate in this commemoration of the 70th anniversary of auschwitz liberation. i am just an inmate, just a prison number. 48693. i would like to thank all of you for a momentous moment we have here. i would like to thank all of you for that. [applause]

>> ladies and gentlemen, now i am welcoming a former inmate of auschwitz to take the floor. [applause]

>> mr. president, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, dear inmates, my fellows, you are in a german concentration camp of auschwitz as an element that is an enemy of the right for jews for young and healthy. this is how long you have the right to live. no longer than that. any insubordination or rebellion will be ruthlessly stamped down. for any resistance to authority,

attempted escape, death is the penalty. the only way out is through the chimney of the crematoria. these were the words shouted out to us, 728 polish political prisoners of the first transport on the 14th of june, 1914. -- 1940. they were made our reality with criminal persistence for over 4.5 years of existence. a testimony to this, soviet prisoners of war, jews representatives of federal -- several other nations.

it was proven by terror, hunger. this was from the very first days. in 1942, the auschwitz concentration camp was transformed into the death camp. coming to the railway ramp every day, transports of jews from all of the captures. doctors conducted selections. women who can work are taken to the blocks of auschwitz 1. pregnant women, the ailing, old, and children go to the gas

chambers. the holocaust takes a deathly toll and the efficiency of crematoria is not sufficient for the henchmen. several sub camps are developed to which camp administration provides the labor, caching plenty of money for the work of the slaves. the madness of the people is opposed by the stronger individuals. from the first day, a struggle for biological survival continues. a struggle to take away from death the maximum number of beings and for preservation of

human dignity within the camp and around the camp, there was also an organized resistance. a movement managed by the army and the peasants. the dedication of the polish people around the camp did not have a price. inmates escaped to take out documents of crimes, to pass to the world the truth about the camp, and to fight in arms with occupants. few were lucky to experience that. only 10% of the escapes ended in success. to the sound of the siren, units

supported by the armed patrols of the germans replaced the settled poles, went for pursuits. the excruciating yell of the sirens inspired fear in inmates. it also gave the hope that the world would learn about the crimes of the nazis. i, myself, heard the siren for the last time late in the evening on the 27th of february, 1943 when, having escaped from auschwitz among the floating ice, i was crossing a river. that sound continues to vibrate in my subconscious ever sense.

i have paid a high price for escaping the camp. my sister and mother were deported. they lived through it luckily. together with my colleagues, former inmates, i can now be standing before the monument of the victims. i honor the memory of those who did not survive some of those who passed away.

let us honor them with a moment's silence.

thank you very much. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, roman kent to take the floor. [applause] >> i am often asked how long i was in auschwitz.

my answer is, i do not know. what i do know is that one minute in auschwitz was like an entire day. a day was like a year. a month, an eternity. how many eternities can one person have in a single lifetime? i do not know the answer. this was the war. today, 70 years later, for me, a

survivor, to forget the arabic -- the horrific experiences even for one moment is impossible. witnessing the atrocities at the entrance gate to auschwitz was more than enough to keep me awake at night until the end of time. it is there, you see the germans welcome and begin to brutalize their guests. they were driven into families. forcing them apart and separating them forever.

camp guards hit us with whips that cut us up. even 70 years later, the cruelty and inhuman behavior in the camps is etched in my mind. the look of pleasure on the murderous faces and their laughter as they tortured innocent men, women, children, is beyond description and in my consciousness. human skeletons. just skin and bones.

yet still alive. of how can i ever forget the smell of burned flesh that permeated the air? many of us came to auschwitz not knowing each other in life. most left together in the form of smoke. the heartbreaking weeping of the children torn from their mother's arms by the brutal action of the torturers will ring in my ears until i am laid to rest. i continue to wonder if the cries of these youngsters ever penetrated heaven's gate. we survivors continuously came

face to face with that. yet, despair was not our response. despite hopelessness, we created light out of the world of darkness. we remember the consuming evil we were forced to endure. we survivors cannot, dare not to forget the millions who were murdered. if we were to forget, the conscience of mankind would be buried alongside the victims. today, in this place, we are part of the 70th anniversary commemorating the liberation of auschwitz.

what is a program opportunity to extend a meaningful, heartfelt message to leaders of all nations. we must all remember for a few the leaders of the world to teach others to remember the holocaust and other atrocities like kosovo and the present one in paris -- it will have no place on the face of the are. -- of the earth. [applause] to remember is not enough.

it is our mutual obligation, that of survivors and national leaders, to install in future generations, the understanding of what happens when fear and prejudice and hatred are allowed to flourish. we must all teach our children tolerance and understanding both at home and in school. tolerance cannot be assumed, it must be taught. we all must make clear that hate is never right.

love is never wrong. [applause] when i think of the holocaust, as i often do, there are a few things i consider really haunting. it renews my faith and had -- in mankind. without hesitation, the courageous and harowing feats of those who saved lives endangered their own lives and that of their families.

to save the lives of strangers. just a few against tens of millions of. show the world that the answer to indifference is involvement and the courage to make moral choices and act in accordance with their choices. it will be an example. [indiscernible]

even in the hell known as the holocaust, the individual has the capacity to behave humanly if he or she only cared and at courage -- and had the courage to act accordingly. [applause] we survivors share a common goal with the current generation. hopefully with our future generations, we do not want our

past to be our children's past -- future. [applause] i really wanted to repeat it but you interrupted it by the applause. but i will still repeat it. because that's the key to my existence. we survivors do not want our past to be our children's future. i hope -- i hope and believe that this generation will build on mankind's great traditions tempered by understanding that these traditions must embrace

pluralism and tolerance. human rights for all people. and must include opposition to anti-semitism and to racism of any sort. it should be commonplace rather than exceptions. unfortunately, the passage of time makes it more and more apparent that there is an effort by the ideological successors of the perpetrators as well as the deniers and the ignorant abetted by much of the media. i can repeat it. that it was a -- it is abetted

by much of the media. to sanitize, to sanitize this, they employ language to describe the holocaust so that it appears less wicked and brutal. their efforts obscures the truth of what actually happened. for example, it has been become routine to use the word "lost" when referring to relatives and loved ones who were brutally murdered during the holocaust. but the term lost does not accurately describe what happened. lost referred to something that has been misplaced or has gone astray. 11 million people including 6

million jews and 1 1/2 million jewish children were not lost. or misplaced. these children were murdered as were generations that would have followed them. similarly, we often hear that millions perished during the holocaust. let me make clear those died in auschwitz, they did not perish in the normal sense of the word. they were viciously killed murdered, burned in the crematorium. for all intents and purposes, by not telling it as it actually was, clearly and without qualification or hedging, we offensively diminish our outrage that should exist. in effort, we protect the

perpetrators who performed these reprehencible deeds. by using sanitized words, by cleaning up what happened, we are knowingly helped the deniers. they lessen the atrocities of the perpetrators. and yet, and yet, in view of the killing participation anywhere of so many world's leaders, there is visible sign of compassion and improvement instead of indifference. this is progress. it is now up to the leaders of tomorrow but there remains so much more to be done. we all must be involved and stay involved. no one, no one should ever be a spectator.

i feel so strongly about this point that if i had the power i would add an 11th commandment. to the universally accepted 10 commandments. you should never, never be a bystander. i have hope there is a brighter future for mankind. after all, we live together on the same planet. perhaps when we all find that we are one people, we can then ensure that tragedy like auschwitz will never happen again to us or to any other people. [applause]

i am going to end my remarks with a quote expressing one survivor's thoughts on auschwitz. from whatever country, you look at the rooms of the camp, think, and do all you can. so it would not be in vain. for you and your children, the ashes of auschwitz are a warning. hatred will never grow again neither tomorrow nor ever. thank you.

[applause]

>> i am not a survivor although i am grateful for the survivors here today. and not a liberator although i salute their courage of the veterans among us today. i am here simply as a jew. like jews everywhere, this place, this terrible place called auschwitz touches our souls.

i have always wondered if i had been born in hungary, where my grandparents were from instead of new york in february 1944 would i have lived? the answer is no. i would have been one of the 438,000 hungarian jews killed by the nazis here in auschwitz. >> not the germany believed that jews had no right to live. the holocaust was designed by the nazis.

there was complicity by almost every country in europe. / for 70 years philosophers and historians have tried to explain auschwitz. for 70 years, no one has come up with an adequate answer. auschwitz never goes away. this awful place stands as a reminder that propaganda leads to anti-semitism. a reminder that anti-semitism will grow if nobody speaks out. a reminder that when whole countries are filled with hate

anti-semitism leads to places like auschwitz. i was going to make a very different speech here today. but after the recent events in paris and throughout europe and around the world, i cannot ignore what is happening today. jews are targeted in europe once again because they are jews. synagogues and jewish businesses are attacked. there are mass demonstrations with thousands of people shouting death threats to the state of israel and to jews. shortly, after the end of world war ii, after we saw the reality of auschwitz, and other

death camps, no normal person wanted to be associated with the anti-semitism of the nazis. for a time, we thought that the hatred of jews had finally been eradicated. but slowly, the demonization of jews started to come back. first in articles and on the internet. in some religious schools, and even in universities. from there, it made its way into mainstream society. it all seemed so unimportant that a few people paid any attention. until now. when europe suddenly awoke to

find itself surrounded by anti-semitism once again. it looked more like 1933 than 2015. once again, young jewish boys are afraid to wear yarmulkes on the streets of paris and budapest, london, and even berlin. once again, jewish businesses are targeted. once again, jewish families are starting to flee europe. this past summer, a mother of four was walking down the street in sweden. she was suddenly viciously beaten by a mob.

what did she do to deserve this? she was wearing a star of david around her neck. how did this happen again? why, after seven decades and three generations, is this new storm of anti-semitism sweeping through europe and targeting jews once again? after for decades, the world has been fed lies about israel. that israel is the curse of everyone problems. that israel the villain of the 21st century and that israel has no right to exist. we have all learned that when you tell a lie three times and there is no response, that lie becomes the truth.

this quickly became an opportunity to attack jews much of this from the middle east. it found grounds throughout the world. the targets of this hate are not just jews, but christians who are being slaughtered in africa and the middle east. women and girls are killed in afghanistan just for wanting to go to school. journalists are murdered in the middle east and right here in europe. an awful wave of hatred has descended on earth once again. there are representatives today

from 40 countries with us here today. we, the jewish people, are so grateful that you have joined us. you are good, decent people. because of what we are and what this place means, your government must stand up to this new wave of hatred. [applause] schools must teach tolerance of all people. houses of worship should be places of love, understanding, and healing. they should not be telling their people to kill in the name of god. all countries -- [applause]

all countries must vacate a crime. any country that openly brags about the annihilation of another country should be expelled from the family of nations. every country must have absolutely zero tolerance for hate of any kind. unless it is checked right now it will be too late. we still have a chance to stop this, but if every government does not act quickly, then the tragedy of this terrible place will darken the world again. world silence led to auschwitz.

world indifference led to auschwitz. world anti-semitism led to auschwitz. do not let this happen again. [applause] do not let this happen again. thank you.

>> ladies and gentlemen, we will now bring up the guardian of auschwitz. >> they expected the worst. not the unthinkable. can the pain of a victim from

70 years ago become our heritage today? i don't know. but we don't have another choice. it was on this very pain that we had to build the post-war europe. we had to listen closely and feel what has already happened to us. our imaginations are still unable to fathom this. night without end. auschwitz is not a source of strength. if anyone came here to feel strength, wisdom, catharsis, they are all wrong. auschwitz is darkness,

destruction, annihilation. this is why it takes on the form of a warning, a horrid warning. we still cannot cope with auschwitz, as we cannot consent to hatred, anti-semitism. first and foremost, our daily indifference. this is why auschwitz is so frightening. it awakens the demons and the conscience. this conscience accuses each and every one of us. we, the dead, accused.

the survivors, you, the living in your memories carrying the visages of those murdered. we thank you, dear friends, for your difficult words of warning. for your fear and for your hope. for everything that you told us about ourselves. today, we have to become mature adults, carrying further all that your words have sown in our memories. this often feels too overwhelming. but, we don't have and will not have another choice.

we have a dark premonition because we know. it would seem that the world should stay different for good. that no one should be innocently killed. it would seem that, no longer, hatred can be propagated today and that no one is going to try to change laws. it would seem that indifference and passiveness have shed their dust. we have, however, so many times seen that the remembrance has not yet matured in us. it happened, therefore, it can happen again. it can happen anywhere.

even today, we have tried to be afraid, but we also have the obligation to be responsible because we know. as our future is rooted in remembrance, and when we forget, we are not destroying an image of the past, but the tangible shape of our future. never again is not a political program, but it is a personal decision. it means, never again because of me. never again in me. never again with me. i believe that never again with all of us. thank you. [applause]

♪

♪

♪>> we have been listening to

this quartet.

distinguished ladies and gentlemen, we now stand united for those murdered in auschwitz. /

>> thank you for standing. >> i am now asking for kaddish. ♪[singing]

[prayer in hebrew]

[singing]

[singing]

[prayer in hebrew] >> pray eternal rest in latin. now, pray eternal rest in polish.

>> grant unto them. may they rest in peace. amen. >> now for the prayer in old czechoslovakian. [singing]

>> ladies and gentlemen, i am asking everyone to take their seats. please stay seated. in a moment, the delegation will be leaving to walk through the monument. everyone staying here in front of the gate will see the

placement of the candles. we shall now honor those murdered. let the candles be a sign of our eternal memory. the first will be a delegation of survivors. they will be accompanied by the young who want to temper the memory of auschwitz.

>> once again, i am asking you kindly to stay in your seats. the delegation of former inmates together with the young people will take over the responsibility to remember auschwitz are asked to pass towards the monument.

>> now, i am asking the heads of state of all state delegations to proceed towards the monument. and i am asking the remaining representatives to stay in their seats. we will see the placement of the candles on your screens.

representatives of state authorities present here will return to the gate for the closing of the ceremony in this day.

ladies and gentlemen, i am asking you to remain seated. let me once again remind you that we can watch the placement

of the candles, and then we will see all the representatives and the guardians and inmates. they will return here to the gate for the closing of this ceremony. in reflection and watching the symbolic gesture of the placement of the candles, we will listen to addaaggio strings. ♪>> please stay in the tent

because we are waiting for the end of our commemoration.

♪ ladies and gentlemen,

representatives of former inmates, state authority pillars of memory, will soon

return here to the gates of death. we shall continue our ceremony. the celebration today. delegation of former prisoners of the highest authority pillars of memory, people involved in the international auschwitz council ministry of culture and national heritage will come back here and we will continue our commemoration soon.

♪ now candles will be laid by

theformer inmates of auschwitz. -- representatives of the former inmates of auschwitz.

>>each of the former prisoners' representatives are paying tribute. to the martors of auschwitz. and now, representatives of the highest authorities of many countries. >> now the candles are laid by the representatives of the highest authorities. ♪>> ladies and gentlemen, i

would kindly remind you that all representatives will come back to the tent and we will continue our commemoration.

please remain seated. the delegations are paying tribute to the victims.

all representatives are coming back here in front of the gate of death. please remain seated.

♪ladies and gentlemen, i would like to thank you for your patience. all delegations are coming back and they will be here soon. >> ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for your patience. they will soon be here. we will be continuing the ceremony.

♪

>> the ceremony was held to commemorate the us with its -- the auschwitz concentration camp's liberation by the red army. our chemical about the liberation on the senate floor. -- barbara mikulski spoke about the liberation on the senate floor. of the auschwitz concentration camp. 70 years since the liberation of the auschwitz concentration camp. it was a triumph for our allies, but a melancholy day as the world began to see the films and the photographs come out of this hell hole.

i stand here today to remember and remind us all that more than any other word, auschwitz is synonymous with evil. as someone who is very proud of her polish american heritage, i visited auschwitz and i wanted to see it when i had the chance to learn more about my own heritage and i wanted to see what happened there so that i would remember, and i rise today so that the world remembers what happened there and then the her heroic effort of the allied forces joined together to be able to save europe and save western civilization. i've introduced a resolution honoring those that survive even today and those that were lost that would remind us that we need to work always for tolerance, peace and justice and