THE IMPORTANCE OF EXPERIENCE AND MEMORY BECOMES INCREASINGLY EVIDENT.
81ST ANNIVERSARY OF LIBERATION OF AUSCHWITZ
Auschwitz Memorial
On January 27, 2026 a group 21 Survivors of Auschwitz gathered at the site of the former Auschwitz camp to commemorate the 81st anniversary of the liberation of the German Nazi concentration and extermination camp. The event was held under the honorary patronage of the President of the Republic of Poland, Karol Nawrocki.
The witnesses to history were accompanied by the President of Poland, as well as Minister of Culture and National Heritage Marta Cienkowska, ambassadors, diplomats, representatives of religious communities, regional and local authorities, donors of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation, and staff from museums and memorial sites. The event was hosted by Marek Zając, the Secretary of the International Auschwitz Council.
The main event took place in the historic building of the so-called Central Sauna at the former Auschwitz II-Birkenau camp site. It is located in the immediate vicinity of the ruins of Gas Chamber and Crematorium IV. The original prison uniforms worn by camp inmates were
a symbolic element on stage.
The core of the commemoration was the voices of the Survivors, including those present and those who had previously shared their testimonies and memories, expressing their experiences and warnings.
In order to focus entirely on the voices of the Victims and Survivors of Auschwitz,
a decision was made to refrain from any political speeches on this day and in this particular place. This decision was unanimously supported by the International Auschwitz Council.
At the beginning, those gathered at the Memorial Site and all viewers of the broadcast heard an excerpt from
a profound testimony. Załmen Gradowski, a Polish Jew, was deported to Auschwitz from the Grodno Ghetto with his entire family. His loved ones, including his parents and wife, were murdered in the gas chamber immediately after their arrival at the camp. Gradowski, assigned to the Sonderkommando—a special group of prisoners forced to work in the gas chambers and crematoria—sought to inform the world about the mass murder. He secretly wrote notes that became
a shocking literary record of the tragedy.
A moving excerpt from his text written in Auschwitz—a unique appeal to the Moon—was read by actor Michał Żebrowski:
“How can you wander about, dreamy, lovesick, enchanted as before, and not feel the terrible annihilation, the great misfortune brought down by them, the murderers and pirates of the world? How can you not feel? Do you not miss the millions of effervescent lives that had lived secure, calm and carefree all over Europe, until the storm came, drowning the world in a sea of blood? How can you not look down, dear moon, on the desolate world, and not notice the empty homes, extinguished candles, vanished lives? … How can you not feel, O moon, the horribly grief that has enveloped the
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