Holocaust survivors join heads of state to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau. But politics are thwarting unity.
In 1939, Poland was home to more Jews than any other nation in Europe. Partitioned by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union that year, Poland lost a fifth of its population in World War II; 90% of Polish Jews were killed in the Holocaust. Israel was established as a Jewish homeland in 1948, out of the ashes out of that global conflagration.
Poland was one of Adolf Hitler’s first victims. His armies invaded Poland in 1939 only after Germany had signed the nonaggression pact with the Soviet Union that included a secret appendix carving up Poland. The Soviet Union only entered the war against fascism in 1941, when Hitler broke the pact by invading it.
The meeting comes ahead of the official anniversary of the camp’s liberation, Jan. 27, when the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum will play host to some of the same dignitaries as well as 200 Holocaust survivors — at least a quarter of them American.
“This may be the last ceremony of its kind for these heroes and victims, and one of the last times they will ever be able to speak publicly about their experiences,” Lauder, a former U.S. ambassador to Austria, said in an interview. “We must bear witness for generations to come on behalf of those who will no longer be able to speak for themselves.”
One of those people is David Lenga, 92, who was held at Auschwitz-Birkenau as a teenager and currently lives in Woodland Hills. Lenga, who will attend the ceremony in Poland, said he stayed away from the former prison until four years ago, when his daughter pleaded with him to show it to her. He said he believes it is his responsibility to educate others about the Holocaust.
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