Russian representatives were not invited to the commemorations of the 78th anniversary of the liberation by the Red Army of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi extermination camp, after the Russian aggression against Ukraine, the site museum announced on Wednesday.
“In view of the aggression against a free and independent Ukraine, the representatives of the Russian Federation have not been invited to participate in this year’s commemoration of the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz” which will take place this Friday, said Piotr Sawicki, spokesman for the museum
“Return to the Living Rooms of the Civilized World”
Until now, Russia has always participated in the ceremonies that are held annually on January 27, with its representative speaking at the main ceremony. According to the director of the museum, Piotr Cywinski, it was evident that she could not “sign any letter to the Russian ambassador in the tone of invitation”, in the context of the conflict.
“I hope that will change in the future, but we have a long way to go. (…) Russia will need an extremely long time and very deep introspection after this conflict to return to the living rooms of the civilized world.” he said.
“barbaric act”
On the day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, the museum called the Russian attack an “act of barbarism.”
“This act of barbarism will be judged by history, and its authors – it is to be expected – by the International Court of Justice,” he had indicated. the museum on Twitter.
Built in occupied Poland, Auschwitz-Birkenau is the symbol of the genocide perpetrated by Nazi Germany against six million European Jews, one million of whom died in the camp between 1940 and 1945, with more than 100,000 non-Jews.
This camp, where some 80,000 non-Jewish Poles, 25,000 Roma and 20,000 Soviet soldiers also died, was liberated by the Red Army on January 27, 1945.
Source: BFM TV
