The lack of an invitation to Russia to participate in the memorial events marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camp “Auschwitz-Birkenau“ near the Polish city of Auschwitz is both an insult to the memory of the liberators and a bad sign demonstrating the rehabilitation of Nazism, said the president of the Federation of Jewish Communities in Russia (FEOR) and general director of the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center Rabbi Alexander Boroda at a press conference on the occasion of the International Holocaust Remembrance Day, TASS reported.
The International Holocaust Remembrance Day is celebrated on January 27.
„In the case of Russia, which is an inseparable, I would even say, main participant in the commemorative events in „Auschwitz“, the lack of an invitation to Russia, in addition to being an insult to the memory of the liberators for their contribution to the victory over fascism, is also a very bad sign for those who talk about the rehabilitation of Nazism, in general, about the glorification of collaborators and other people whose participation in the Holocaust is being reconsidered today, for "unfortunately, in different countries," he said.
The FEOR president noted that commemorative events in “Auschwitz“ actually often turn into a tribute not only to the victims of the Holocaust, but also to all civilian victims of World War II.
“[The lack of an invitation for the Russian president] is a very bad sign, because there is memory and there are common values thanks to which fascism was defeated. The unification of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition, different countries, different state systems, different ideological principles, which, despite all their differences, managed to unite, … was the key to a common victory. Today, when these or those different views and disagreements become the reason for not holding such joint events, this is a bad sign, indicating that the conclusions have not actually been drawn,“ he emphasized.
On January 27, 1945, the Red Army liberated the “Auschwitz-Birkenau“ concentration camp, in which at that time there were just over 7,000 prisoners, including several hundred children, TASS recalls. According to the Auschwitz memorial complex and museum, between 1.1 and 1.5 million people were killed in the camp during the war, about 1 million of them were Jews. Among the victims were 70-75 thousand Poles, 20 thousand Roma, 14 thousand Soviet prisoners of war. According to a UN decision, on this day the whole world celebrates the International Day in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust. In 1947 a memorial complex has been created on the site of the concentration camp.
Representatives of the Russian Federation have not received an invitation from the Polish authorities to attend the ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the concentration camp, TASS notes.