Auschwitz 75 years on: Lessons of history

As Holocaust survivors and world leaders gathered in Poland on Monday to mark 75 years since soldiers liberated the Nazi German death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau, historians noted the site was a symbol of some of the worst atrocities of World War II.

Jarosław Szarek

Wojciech Kusiński/Polskie Radio

They also said the memorial site in the southern Polish town of Oświęcim sent a powerful message of warning to future generations.

“When we think WWII, one of the first things that comes to mind is Auschwitz,” said Jarosław Szarek, head of Poland's Institute of National Remembrance.

“A giant death factory—more than 1.1 million victims, mostly Jews from all over Europe … If history is to teach us anything, in places like these, remembrance is a warning.”