A decade ago, 1,500 Holocaust survivors traveled to Auschwitz to mark the 60th anniversary of the death camp’s liberation. On Tuesday, for the 70th anniversary, organizers are expecting 300, the youngest in their 70s.
“In 10 years there might be just one,” said Zygmunt Shipper, an 85-year-old survivor who will attend the event in southern Poland to pay homage to the millions killed by the Third Reich. In recent years, Shipper has been traveling around Britain to share his story with school groups, hoping to reach as many people as he can while he has the strength.
“The children cry, and I tell them to talk to their parents and brothers and sisters and ask them ‘why do we do it and why do we hate?'” he said. “We mustn’t forget what happened.”
Below is a selection of photos from the 70th Anniversary of the Auschwitz liberation.
Flowers lie on a concrete slab of the Holocaust Memorial to mark the International Holocaust Remembrance Day and commemorating the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi Auschwitz death camp in Berlin, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2015. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
Holocaust survivor Igor Malitsky of Ukraine walks outside the gate of the Auschwitz Nazi death camp in Oswiecim, Poland, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2015. Some 300 Holocaust survivors traveled to Auschwitz for the 70th anniversary of the death camp’s liberation by the Soviet Red Army in 1945, down from 1,500 who attended the event 10 years ago. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz)
A rose hangs on the entrance gate during the international Holocaust remembrance day in the former Nazi concentration camp Buchenwald near Weimar, Germany, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2015. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer)
A Holocaust survivor wears a prisoner armband at the Auschwitz Nazi death camp in Oswiecim, Poland, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2015. (AP Photo//Czarek Sokolowski)
Visitors walk at the Auschwitz Nazi death camp in Oswiecim, Poland, Monday, Jan. 26, 2015. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz)
Pavel Kohn, born in 1929 in Prague, Czech Republic, survivor of the holocaust stands in front of the former Nazi concentration camp during the international Holocaust remembrance day in the former Nazi concentration camp Buchenwald near Weimar, Germany, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2015. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer)
People walk holding lit candles past guard towers next to the railway leading to the Birkenau Nazi death camp in Oswiecim, Poland, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2015, after the official remembrance ceremony. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz)
Stones lie on a Auschwitz-Birkenau memorial stone during the international Holocaust remembrance day in the former Nazi concentration camp Buchenwald near Weimar, Germany, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2015. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer)
Barbed wire fences and guard towers surround the access road into the Birkenau Nazi death camp in Oswiecim, Poland, Monday, Jan. 26, 2015. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
Holocaust survivors walk outside the gate of the of the Auschwitz Nazi death camp in Oswiecim, Poland, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2015. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz)
People lay down flowers during the international Holocaust remembrance day in the former Nazi concentration camp Buchenwald near Weimar, Germany, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2015. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer)
Visitors walk between detention buildings at the Auschwitz Nazi death camp in Oswiecim, Poland, Monday, Jan. 26, 2015. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz)
A Holocaust survivor wipes her eye while standing along with others outside a detention block of the Auschwitz Nazi death camp in Oswiecim, Poland, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2015. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz)
Candles burn by a memorial plaque at the Birkenau Nazi death camp in Oswiecim, Poland, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2015, after the official remembrance ceremony. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz)
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I’m Jewish so thanks for putting this out into the blogosphere.
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