Remembrance can take different forms: how the atrocities of the Holocaust are reflected upon more than 70 years later
At this time of year, we commemorate the millions of people who lost their lives as a result of premeditated mass murder committed by the Nazis. On 27 January 1945, Soviet troops liberated Auschwitz death camp. More than a million people were murdered in what was the largest extermination camp built by the Nazis. They were gassed, shot or hanged – or died as a result of abuse, torture, illness, malnutrition and the consequences of forced labour. Today, Auschwitz is synonymous with the Holocaust – the genocide perpetrated against the Jewish people. Former German President Roman Herzog made 27 January a day of memorial; since 2006, the victims of the Nazi regime have been commemorated around the world.