Kings, presidents and the heads of state of 54 nations sat in silence under an enormous tent erected over the infamous watchtower-entrance that, 80 years ago, loomed over the largest mass-slaughter of human beings in history.
They listened to the harrowing testimonies of four Auschwitz-Birkenau survivors – the youngest 86; the oldest 99 – who shared their horrifying memories from the site on which they now stood.
Tova Friedman, who was five when she arrived at the camp, said her memories were “so vivid” that she could easily recall “the cries of desperate women” being separated from their babies, “the terrible stink” that rose from the chimneys and the sight of shoeless children being led through the snow.
Five years ago, at the 75th commemoration ceremony marking the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, there were around 200 survivors. At Monday’s ceremony, five years later, there were 50.
Sitting at the front, the survivors defiantly donned blue and white striped scarves, echoing the camp uniform many were forced to wear. One survivor wore his original tattered cap.
Ronald Lauder, president of World Jewish Congress, has been involved with Auschwitz-Birkenau for more than 50 years, having been at the forefront of efforts to maintain the site for educational purposes since first visiting it for the 25th anniversary in 1970.
Looking frail as he walked up to the podium, he acknowledged that the ceremony may also be his last.
In an impassioned speech, with his loud, deep voice reverberating to the back of the tent, he issued a warning to world leaders that the world “is again in crisis”.
“Today, I cannot stand here and look at these survivors and say that ‘everything is okay’, as I have in the past, because everything is not okay,” he said.
“Jews are the canary in the coalmine. When the canary dies, miners know they have to get out of that mine as fast as possible. That canary died 15 months ago on October 7. It was the most consequential warning for the entire world.”
Referencing “the most heartbreaking number in an ocean of heartbreak”, 1.5 million children slaughtered during the Shoah, he continued: “Fifteen months ago, not 80 years ago, we saw Jewish children slaughtered. Once again, for one reason, because they were born Jewish.
“In a very fundamental way, what happened in Israel on October 7 and what happened here in Auschwitz have one common thread; the age-old hatred of Jews.”
The world on January 27, 1945, he said, “finally saw where the step-by-step progression of antisemitism leads, it leads right here. To the gas chambers, to the piles of bodies, and the horrors within these gates.
“Today, we see parallels throughout the world. Jewish children have been told to hide any outward signs of being Jewish. Today there are mass demonstrations against Jews. Today, we see vile comments all over social media. Need I remind you; this is not 1933 or 1939, this is 2025.
“It’s hard for us to believe what we see today – the singling out the one Jewish state, shouting antisemitic slurs everywhere. It’s hard for us to watch, for anybody [to watch]. I can’t imagine how difficult that is to watch for the 50 survivors here today.
“These lessons from Auschwitz are not just for Jews, they’re for the entire world,” he said to a standing ovation.
Reflecting on the ceremony afterwards, Karen Pollock CBE, chief executive of the Holocaust Education Trust, lauded Lauder’s words as a “most incredible speech, with a forceful, powerful message”.
However, she added: “A feeling came through of fear, too, and of warning, fear for the fragility of our future and the rise of antisemitism. I hope it struck a chord with world leaders.
“To have our precious survivors take centre stage at the commemoration was wholly appropriate. They were extraordinary displaying their courage and defiance speaking so eloquently - we hung on their every word.”
Mala Tribich MBE, the only British Holocaust survivor to travel to Poland to attend the ceremony, told the JC that she found the ceremony both special and poignant.
“It was very moving to gather together to remember the victims of the Holocaust, and it was remarkable to see so many people coming from all over the world to commemorate this most terrible tragedy together,” she said.
Alongside King Charles, who was among the procession of world leaders and Holocaust survivors to lay a candle in front of the gate, other heads of state included President Macron of France, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine, Germany’s Olaf Scholz and Frank-Walter Steinmeier, President Andrzej Duda of Poland, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada, Sergio Mattarella of Italy and Alexander van der Bellen of Austria.
Former president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, Marie van der Zyl, told the JC the gathering and commemoration was “a day of unparalleled emotion for the Jewish people”.
As the hundreds of visibly emotional members of the audience made their way out of the tent into the cold, dark night, each survivor was wrapped in multiple layers of clothes, gripping onto those around them for support or being pushed on their wheelchairs out of the camp for likely the final time.
