so i was meant to liquidate birkenau. what was my last job? which the inmates came up with. canada is a rich country and in canada were all the items brought with them by all those inmates from all these countries. this is where they were collected, and i saw it all. now the upside to working in canada was you could eat things, we would eat whatever was brought by people. because people coming here had been told they were being taken to work, they had been asked to take some food with them, so this food was being brought to canada. and we were sickly and thin, we would eat that and if could you eat such things? back then, anything was possible. there was one more thing that helped us to live in this hell, friendship. we would find a group of people who would help one another. shoah. the holocaust. what about the terrible things? there are many other subjects that can be taught to children. i would like the subject to be introduced at an earlier stage. there is countries where children are 13 or 15 years old. becauseready too late at this point

telled from auschwitz to the truth about what was happening at auschwitz-birkenau.ent at warsaw, and he was killed by the communist authorities in poland. so two people, two different people, both incredibly courageous, and they showed placem, dedication in a created to exterminate these people, and their sacrifice was not in vain. the institute of solidarity and commemorated in poland. it was to commemorate people of different nationalities, victims of german nazi crimes. maximillian association has been operating since 1973. it is meant to reach agreement and reconciliation in various forms to former inmates of concentration camps regardless of their religion or views or beliefs. anniversary of the end of world war ii, the association awarded all former inmates of concentration camps a commemorative medal. the document attached to the medal reads, you have survived butcities in the camps, afterwards your lives have been very difficult, and yet you have given great reasons for reconciliation. so on the medal we can find a rose that symbolizes your message, that of

today, we mark the 75th anniversary of the day that the soviet army liberated auschwitz-birkenau.ore than 1.1 million people were murdered there, most of them jews. millions more were murdered in other death camps. many others were killed in their own villages or nearby. millions of non-jews were also persecuted and killed by the nazis and their collaborators. we remember all of them. all around the world, many governments, many u.n. offices are remembering the victims of the holocaust. the director of our museum, sarah bloombfield, is not here with us, because she is in poland, where she will join world leaders at a commemoration on monday at the site of auschwitz-birkenau. let me say a word about the u.n. choice of today of our day to remember this tragedy. choosing the day on which soviet troops liberated auschwitz as our day of remembrance would seem to lend itself to a particular type of commemoration. one that would focus on the glorious deeds of the liberating army. and yet, the world community has, from the very first, made a different choice. while we recognize there woul

international holocaust remembrance day, observed every january 27 on the anniversary of the auschwitz birkenau concentration camp liberation during world war ii. among the speakers, we hear from two survivors who offered their memories and a prayer. ♪ >> good morning. my name is lisa left. on behalf of the museum leadership, i want to welcome the many ambassadors, diplomats, representatives from the u.s. state department, other u.s. government agencies, will members of our holocaust memorial council, and national jewish organization. -- organizations.

the auschwitz-birkenau concentration camp run by nazis during world war ii. speakers include four auschwitz survivors, and the ceremony concludes with a candle vigil held in memory of those killed at the concentration camp. [violin playing] ♪ ♪ >> [speaking polish] translator: distinguished ladies and gentlemen, i would like to welcome you to this commemoration for holocaust survivors. may i welcome your highnesses, presidents, prime ministers and members of parliament and heads of state delegations. may i welcome representatives of the polish parliament and parliamentarians from europe and the world. may i welcome members of governments from poland, europe and the world. i welcome representatives of the diplomatic corps for their support, and pillars of memories action foundation and fund. i welcome representatives from the churches and religious communities, notably the communities of the jewish society and also the representatives of the roma. representatives of regional and foreign governments. representatives of institutions and organizations and all the

away it would become the largest mass murder site in human history it was known as auschwitz 2 or birkenau. they came loose horses and they said that we have come to take you away. 3. that are lined with people. nobody smiled nobody said a war. between may and july 944 more than 430000 hungry and jews half of the pre-war population arrived at birkenau by cattle car railway tracks led directly into the camp to deliver the prisoners within 100 meters of the main gas chambers the moses family was among the 1st to step down on to the freshly hardened concrete of the unloading and selection platform and nothing was running in the middle of the selection platform very clearly yelling in german doings. you know this medium in me and he demanded to know if we had been playing them my mother said yes and that moment then other not the appear from nowhere poor my mother the goods are right. and i can see still as my mother than most of us dread to the water gods and she whispered the way. it was so much pain in her eyes. in that desire lays in me that i am of my mother. most underwent a different se

today we mark the 75th anniversary of the day the soviet army liberated auschwitz-birkenau.ore than 1.1 million people were murdered there, most of them choose. millions more -- killedd many others were in villages or forests nearby. millions of non-jews were persecuted and killed by the nazis and their collaborators and we remember all of them. all around the world many governments, you and offices are remembering the victims -- u.n offices are remembering. zero bloombfield is not with us field is not with us today. she is choosing the day on which soviet troops liberated auschwitz as our day of remembrance would seem to lend itself to a particular type of commemoration. one that would focus on the glorious deeds of the liberating army. has,et the world community from the very first, made a different choice. while of course we recognize there would have been no end to the suffering had it not been for the heroic deeds of the allied army we nevertheless put our focus today on remembering the victims of the nazi onslaught. following in the tradition of of primo leviirs we shu

survivors gathered on january 27 to mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the auschwitz-birkenaution camp run by nazis during world war ii. speakers include four auschwitz survivors, and the ceremony concludes with a candle vigil held in memory of those killed at the concentration camp. [violin playing]

our team traveled with max to the auschwitz birkenau state museum for a day as he shared his story with us and with his son. who was on the mark for the first time. >> we traveled to slovakia and his hometown in slovakia where max recalled his childhood and invited us to share what he told his last goodbye to his hometown, once vibrant community that now exists only through him. his communitywill not be forgotten , thanks to his hundred 60 on location interview and the loving details he so generously included in his memoirs. >> this is all in addition to the usc showa foundation having not one but two life history interviews of max in our visual history archive. both were reported in the 1990s, once taken by the showa foundation and holocaust education center. both are accessible through the visual history archives. that testimony is among the 55,000 survivor testimonies that are now accessible or available through over 160 universities and museums on six continents around the world and there others of course is his book which is what we are here to celebrate today area now, as i unders

for a long time, they do not know that auschwitz and birkenau are together. a number of organizations think that auschwitz is in east prussia, which was 30,000 miles -- 3000 miles away from where it was or it was a work camp you -- and lined the details get fuzzy. they don't have reliable journalists on the ground. everything is third and fourth hand. for a long time. when the board does get reports from escapees that is what they publicize. we know more than they did and it's hard to look back without saying that is not true, but this is. why didn't they follow this one? they did not know that that one is not true. i get into it a little bit in the book. communication is such a problem. if you want to send something securely, it has to be coded, and then he goes to the state department to be decoded. it takes about a week to have coded information and have it delivered to its intended recipients. if we did something right now it would help this group of people in danger at that particular moment. they just don't have the capacity to act quickly almost ever.

survivors gathered on january 27 to mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the auschwitz-birkenauazis during world war ii. speakers include four auschwitz survivors and the ceremony concludes with a candle vigil held in memory of those killed at the concentration camp. ♪ [violin playing] ♪

but i never really appreciated how awful this was until we went, dan and i, my husband, went to birkenau. not auschwitz. because i think it is totally [indiscernible] but auschwitz is vast. if you imagine smoke, smell, dirt on the roads, shouting, obliviongs, complete for the people who came off the train. -- trains. even for someone like myself, and expense like that, it is really important. and the other thing that happened while we were there as there was a survivor, who was telling israeli soldiers about his experiences in the camp. andhese were young men women from israel, from there, he did not really know anything about it. is in would suggest, europe, hitler's decided to completely extinguish the jewish community. some had been in europe for over 1000 years. kids, or toto teach make it more immediate, i think, and you guys know this better, is to appoint people in the room and say to them, ok. you guys are going to disappear. the entire third or fourth or fifth of the class is going to disappear. how do you feel about this neighbor or that neighbor? how do you feel about not havi

they know names, but for a long time they do not know that auschwitz and birkenau are together.number of organizations think that auschwitz is in east prussia, which was 30,000 miles from where it was or it was a work camp you are details get fuzzy because in part they don't have reliable journalists on the ground. everything is third and fourth hand. for a long time. get reportsrd does that is what they publicize. we know more than they did and it's hard to look back without trying to -- without saying, well, that's not true, but this is an white it may follow this one? they don't know that one's not true. i get into it a little bit in the book. communication is such a problem. it takes about a week to have coded information and have it delivered to its intended recipients. if we did something right now it would help this group of people in danger at that particular moment. they just don't have the capacity to act quickly almost ever. it does get really hard. thinks for the talk. i know you said at the beginning you don't speak for the museum at this point, but since the new ex

international holocaust remembrance day, observed every generally 27th on the anniversary of the ashworth birkenau liberation during world war ii. among the speakers we hear from two survivors who offer their memories and a prayer. ♪ >> good money. my name is lisa and on behalf of the museum leadership i want to welcome the many ambassadors, diplomats, representatives from

morning we were hauled off from the baruch with a beautiful sunday morning i could see the spread of birkenaue i could see for chimneys, fire and smoke and ashes coming down we were naked and few men in snipe outfits with a canister of liquid. my father asked them, are we going to see our families today? that's what they told us the night before. they were laughing they said where did you come from and they's we said we came from hungry in the middle of the night. i could hear it so clearly, they said in 1944 you don't know what this place is all about? your families have gone to the chamber. the only way you will get out of here is be beaten to death, starve to death or go to the chamber for sure. we didn't talk about it anymore. i think probably my father and uncle got it and i didn't until maybe the next day. there was no talking about it because you are now in the clutches of survival. you were put into work unit and give given a couple of Ãbthey put all these psychopaths into the camps they were our work bosses. will your food count was 300 calories a day. i was very lucky i had good boo

our team traveled with max to the auschwitz-birkenau state museum friday as he shared his story withrch for the first time. we traveled to slovakia and his hometown where max recalled his childhood and invited us to share in what is likely i'm told his last to his hometown. i once vibrant community that now exists only through him. this community will not be forgotten thanks to his 360 on location interview and a loving details he so generously included in his memoirs. this is all in addition to the usc shoah foundation having not one but two life history interviews of max in our visual history archive, both recorded in the 1990s, once taken taken by the usc shoah foundation and one filled by the holocaust education center, both are accessible to the visual history archives. that testimony is among the 55,000 survivor testimonies that are now accessible or available through over 106 universities and museums on six continents around the world and there is of course his book which is what we're here to celebrate today. now, as i understand it come max did not always wish to tell his st

auschwitz 2 was its much bigger neighbor at birkenau this is what's left of the crematoria there. dumped the ashes of the people they killed. >> you think you're prepared for what you'll see. the evidence of mass murder but you're not. >> the children's shoes. the children's shoes. what it says. look at this. this child couldn't have been more than two or three years old if that. what a shame. >> the could the metrics billionaire, ronald lauder helped raise the $40 million. preserving auschwitz has been his mission since this first visit in 1987. he's president of the world jewish congress. >> he won't say how much exactly but admits he's personally given tens of millions of dollars so these objects will bear witness long after survivors of auschwitz are dead. >> the one word the one word that symbolizes what happened to the jewish people was the word auschwitz. it's the largest cemetery in the world. there are a million people buried here. we are now three generations later, and what do we see over and over again? it's that people forgot. >> according to a recent poll, fewer than

over 1 million men, women and children lost their lives at auschwitz birkenau alone. we walked train tracks that transported innocent people to captivity and the gas chambers and visiting this historic monument genocide, only reaffirmed for me that we cannot ignore the resurgence and hate that we see now. to live a moral imperative of never again, we must hold hearings like this and shine a light onbigotry and white supremacist ideology . it is important toó for this hearing the fight against anti-semitism and bigotry is about more than support for the state of israel. the story of the shallot must also be clear. the systematic mass extermination did not happen overnight. it began with a speech , harassment and attacks on vulnerable communities area as these symptoms reemerge, we must seek out. today, we will do that. we must also educate the american people by highlighting the amazing placements of persecuted communities in the united states. during important events like the upcoming black history month in february jewish american heritage month with we celebrate in

in january of 1945, the auschwitz birkenau concentration camp was liberated from the nazis. it was one of the most infamous sites of the nazi genocide. the purpose of today's hearing is to commemorate these grave anniversaries, term member those we have lost, and to honor those who are with us. but it is not enough to simply recognize these dates but we must contemplate what led the atrocities we must combat bigotry, hate, and violence of all kinds day. i am so pleased to have our distinguished panel that have asked them to come together on help's solemn occasion to unify red, hope and inclusion. that. we can all do the best way to help remember is to hear from those who lived through it and we will do that today. ae block from here is gripping institution dedicated to remembering the holocaust fight hate today. i'm also pleased to announce that on monday, the house is evidence past bipartisan votes -- 393ith votes to pass a resolution i authored to give teachers additional resources to teach about the holocaust i hope the senate will pass the bill and send it to the preside

the hearing today which commemorates the 75th anniversary of the liberation of auschwitz birkenau is one and a series we are holding on these issues. fourman raskin has held hearings to confront white supremacy, religious persecution, and our government's response. chairman lynch has worked with chairman raskin to investigate the national security implications of these threats. going forward, we are planning additional hearings including one on voter suppression in minority communities, anti-muslim discrimination, anti-immigrant actions, and issues facing the lgbtq community. i have been in touch with many of you over the past weeks and i hope you will come to me with additional thoughts, ideas, or proposals you think our committee should take up as part of the series. we mark this day of remembrance just weeks after a recent state of anti-semitic attacks in new york city including one at a rabbi's home during the festival of hanukkah. it was heartening to participate in a solidarity march in new york following the attacks and i hope we can work together with that same spirit of soli

international holocaust remembrance day, observed every january 27 on the anniversary of the auschwitz birkenau concentration camp liberation during world war ii. among the speakers, we hear from 2 survivors who offered their memories and a prayer. ♪ >> on behalf of the museum leadership, i want to welcome the many ambassadors, diplomats, representatives from the.s