The solemn commemoration came amid a worldwide spike in antisemitism and new surveys suggesting basic knowledge of the Holocaust is eroding.

Silence pervades the site of Auschwitz-Birkenau today. Sometimes the only sounds are the soft footsteps of visitors, people who come from all over the world to mourn and to learn, and the voices of their guides speaking in hushed tones into microphones trying to explain the ungraspable.

In all, 56 survivors gathered under a huge tent on Monday set up over a gate and railway tracks at the site of the former camp.

Survivors of the Nazi's notorious Auschwitz death camp are taking center stage at the memorial service to mark 80 years since its liberation by Soviet troops.

It doesn’t do any good for your heart, for your mind, for anything,” said Holocaust survivor Jona Laks, 94, about her return to Nazi Germany’s Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.

Over 1.1 million people were murdered at Auschwitz, including nearly a million Jews. On the day of liberation 80 years ago, only 7,000 were saved.

This is a collection of photos chosen by AP photo editors.

King Charles, Prince William and Kate Middleton are leading the royal family’s commemorations of the victims of the Holocaust on Holocaust Memorial Day.

“God suffered a great deal in every single person who was here. God suffered a great deal in this place,” Cardinal Rys added.

Gut’s grandmother survived Auschwitz. In 2023, Weisz-Gut moved to the town where the concentration camp is located.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Poland on Monday, 27 January to take part in the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp. Source: Serhii Nykyforov,

The ceremony is widely regarded as the last major observance likely to see a significant number of survivors in attendance.