Auschwitz Survivors Return After 75 Years, With Warnings
2020-01-28
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1Survivors of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp prayed and cried Monday as they marked the 75th anniversary of its liberation.
2The Soviet army freed the prisoners there on January 27, 1945.
3At a special ceremony, the survivors reminded today's leaders of the lessons of the war against Hitler.
4They noted that everyday people did horrible things to the prisoners held in camps like Auschwitz.
5They also warned of the signs of rising anti-Semitism and hatred in the world today.
6"We have with us the last living survivors, the last among those who saw the Holocaust with their own eyes," Polish President Andrzej Duda told those at the event.
7Most of the 1.1 million people murdered by the Nazi German forces at Auschwitz were Jewish.
8Non-Jewish Poles, Russians and Roma also were imprisoned and killed there.
9Around 200 survivors of the camp attended Monday's event.
10They had traveled from Israel, the United States, Australia, Peru, Russia and other countries.
11Many of them lost parents and grandparents in Auschwitz or other Nazi death camps.
12They returned to Poland with their own children, grandchildren and even great-grandchildren.
13Ronald Lauder, the head of the World Jewish Congress, led the ceremony along with Duda.
14Lauder said he never thought he would see the spread of anti-Jewish messages worldwide again.
15He called anti-Semitism a "deadly virus" that must be stopped.
16He ended his speech with a warning: "Do not let this happen again, to any people!"
17The day before Monday's ceremony, the survivors walked through the camp where they had suffered hunger and illness and came close to death.
18Many of them leaned on their children and grandchildren for support.
19The survivors said they had come to remember and share their stories with others.
20They also wanted to show that, in the end, the Nazis did not destroy them.
21Ninety-two-year-old Yvonne Engelman was among the survivors who came to Poland for the anniversary.
22She traveled from her home in Australia.
23 Family members from around the world joined her.
24She came in part in memory of her parents, who both died in the camp.
25"I have no graves to go to and I know my parents were murdered here and burned.
26So this is how I pay homage to them," she said.
27Englelman described how the Nazis brought her from a ghetto in Czechoslovakia by cattle car.
28They then took her clothes, removed her hair and put her in a gas chamber.
29But for some reason, the gas chamber that day did not work. She went on to survive slave labor and a death march.
30Jeanette Spiegel is a 96-year-old survivor.
31She was 20 years old when the Nazis took her to Auschwitz.
32 She was there for nine months.
33Today she lives in New York City.
34She fears the increasing anti-Semitic violence in the United States.
35She tried not to cry as she spoke.
36She said, "Young people should understand that nothing is for sure, that some terrible things can happen and they have to be very careful. And that, God forbid, what happened to the Jewish people then should never be repeated."
37Also on Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron spoke at the Shoah Memorial in Paris.
38The memorial serves as the country's Holocaust museum. Macron warned about rising hate crimes in France, which increased 27 percent last year.
39"That anti-Semitism is coming back is not the Jewish people's problem: It's all our problem, it's the nation's problem," Macron said.
40I'm Jill Robbins.
1Survivors of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp prayed and cried Monday as they marked the 75th anniversary of its liberation. The Soviet army freed the prisoners there on January 27, 1945. 2At a special ceremony, the survivors reminded today's leaders of the lessons of the war against Hitler. They noted that everyday people did horrible things to the prisoners held in camps like Auschwitz. They also warned of the signs of rising anti-Semitism and hatred in the world today. 3Last living survivors 4"We have with us the last living survivors, the last among those who saw the Holocaust with their own eyes," Polish President Andrzej Duda told those at the event. 5Most of the 1.1 million people murdered by the Nazi German forces at Auschwitz were Jewish. Non-Jewish Poles, Russians and Roma also were imprisoned and killed there. 6Around 200 survivors of the camp attended Monday's event. They had traveled from Israel, the United States, Australia, Peru, Russia and other countries. Many of them lost parents and grandparents in Auschwitz or other Nazi death camps. They returned to Poland with their own children, grandchildren and even great-grandchildren. 7Never again 8Ronald Lauder, the head of the World Jewish Congress, led the ceremony along with Duda. 9Lauder said he never thought he would see the spread of anti-Jewish messages worldwide again. He called anti-Semitism a "deadly virus" that must be stopped. 10He ended his speech with a warning: "Do not let this happen again, to any people!" 11The day before Monday's ceremony, the survivors walked through the camp where they had suffered hunger and illness and came close to death. Many of them leaned on their children and grandchildren for support. 12The survivors said they had come to remember and share their stories with others. They also wanted to show that, in the end, the Nazis did not destroy them. 13No graves for her parents 14Ninety-two-year-old Yvonne Engelman was among the survivors who came to Poland for the anniversary. She traveled from her home in Australia. Family members from around the world joined her. She came in part in memory of her parents, who both died in the camp. 15"I have no graves to go to and I know my parents were murdered here and burned. So this is how I pay homage to them," she said. 16Englelman described how the Nazis brought her from a ghetto in Czechoslovakia by cattle car. They then took her clothes, removed her hair and put her in a gas chamber. But for some reason, the gas chamber that day did not work. She went on to survive slave labor and a death march. 17Jeanette Spiegel is a 96-year-old survivor. She was 20 years old when the Nazis took her to Auschwitz. She was there for nine months. Today she lives in New York City. She fears the increasing anti-Semitic violence in the United States. 18She tried not to cry as she spoke. She said, "Young people should understand that nothing is for sure, that some terrible things can happen and they have to be very careful. And that, God forbid, what happened to the Jewish people then should never be repeated." 19Also on Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron spoke at the Shoah Memorial in Paris. The memorial serves as the country's Holocaust museum. Macron warned about rising hate crimes in France, which increased 27 percent last year. 20"That anti-Semitism is coming back is not the Jewish people's problem: It's all our problem, it's the nation's problem," Macron said. 21I'm Jill Robbins. 22Vanessa Gera reported on this story for the Associated Press. Jill Robbins adapted it for Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor. 23What do you think of the warnings by the Auschwitz survivors? Are people where you live also fighting anti-Semitism? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section. 24_____________________________________________________________ 25Words in This Story 26death camp - n. a kind of concentration camp, a type of prison where large numbers of people who are not soldiers are kept during a war and are usually forced to live in very bad conditions, and in the case of a death camp, are brought to be killed 27anti-Semitism - n. hatred of Jewish people 28lean - v. to rest on or against something or someone for support 29grave - n. a hole in the ground for burying a dead body 30homage - n. respect or honor 31ghetto - n. a part of a city in which members of a particular group or race live usually in poor conditions 32the Holocaust - n. the killing of millions of Jews and other people by the Nazis during World War II