January 27, 1945

The train arrived in the middle of the night, so we were greeted by very bright lights shining down on us. We were greeted by soldiers, SS men, as well as women. We were greeted by dogs and whips, by shouting and screaming, orders to try to empty the train, by confusion... There is no way to describe your first coming to Auschwitz.
—Fritzie Weiss Fritzshall

And they said, “From now on you do not answer by your name. Your name is your number.” And the delusion, the disappointment, the discouragement that I felt, I felt like I was not a human person anymore.
—Lilly Appelbaum Lublin Malnik

In January 27, 1945 the Soviet army marched into Auschwitz-Birkenau and liberated over 7,000 prisoners. These people should have never been there in the first place but they were, because a group of human beings decided to do this to another group of human beings. Today is the anniversary of the liberation of the camp and it is International Holocaust Remembrance Day. 

(Click here for details)

I don't have much to say (the stories of those who perished and those who survived this horror are much more valuable than anything I could come up with) so I will end this with the following words and a personal thought. The following comes from "The Brothers Karamazov" by Fyodor Dostoyevsky and it is a reference that was used many times by French Jewish philosopher Emmanuel Levinas:
Each of us is guilty before everyone for everyone, and I more than the others...

My dear reader, before we are accused of one more charge in the court of human history, let us never forget those who died and let us remain vigilant against the forces of bigotry, and hate.

peace,

--Mario