Eighty years after the liberation of Auschwitz, survivors and global leaders gathered at the site of the Nazi death camp to honor victims and confront rising extremism. 🌍 Over 50 survivors and leaders like French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz attended the ceremony, where survivors’ testimonies took center stage. 🕯️
Pawel Sawicki of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum stressed the urgency of preserving survivors’ voices: \"In 10 years, it won’t happen. We must listen now.\" Polish President Andrzej Duda called Poland the \"guardians of memory,\" while Macron vowed to \"fight antisemitism and hatred\" in a post on X.
The anniversary comes amid warnings from survivors like Eva Szepesi, 92, who told Reuters, \"It’s terrifying…we have to act before it’s too late.\" Her fears echo concerns over far-right movements, including Germany’s AfD party, which critics accuse of downplaying Holocaust guilt. 🚨
Controversy flared after Elon Musk endorsed the AfD last month, sparking backlash from Scholz and Poland’s Donald Tusk, who likened the rhetoric to pre-war extremism. Meanwhile, the UN has urged global action against hate speech, adopting Resolution 2686 in 2023 to combat racism and extremism.
As living witnesses dwindle, the message is clear: Never forget. Never repeat. ✊
