Switzerland commemorates the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp 80 years ago

Brothers Alfred and Rudolf Popper, who survived Auschwitz as children, will be attending the commemorative event for the first time since their liberation in 1945, the Swiss Confederation announced in advance. Every year, January 27 is dedicated to the memory of the victims of the Holocaust.

In Switzerland, numerous public buildings will be illuminated on Monday evening to commemorate the liberation of the concentration camp. The Federal Palace will also be illuminated in various colors, according to the announcement. Similar events are planned at municipal and cantonal level. Public and state authorities abroad are also taking part in the campaign.

The Swiss events are part of the global #WeRemember campaign, as announced in advance by the Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities (SIG) and the Platform of Liberal Jews in Switzerland. The World Jewish Congress is supporting the campaign.

The campaign aims to "remind the world of the consequences of an unchecked rise in hatred", according to the SIG and the platform. They referred to the worldwide rise in anti-Semitic attacks. The illumination of the buildings is intended to send a silent signal of humanity and commemorate one of the darkest chapters in human history and its victims.

Up to 1.5 million victims of the killing factory

On January 27, 1945, Soviet soldiers marched into the Auschwitz camp in south-eastern Poland. In the concentration camp, the Nazis killed between 1.1 and 1.5 million people on an industrial scale. Today, it stands as a symbol of the systematic persecution and murder of six million Jews and other minorities by the Hitler regime and its allies during the Second World War.

For SIG President Ralph Friedländer, maintaining the memory of the Holocaust is a duty towards the victims, as he was quoted in the press release. The aim is to raise awareness of the events that led to this tragedy in order to better prevent hate crimes in the future.