Ukraine war: Auschwitz anniversary marked without Russia - BBC

For the archetypal clip a Russian delegation was not invited to a ceremonial marking the liberation of the erstwhile Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi decease campy successful modern-day Poland.

Russia is usually represented astatine the event, arsenic the campy successful occupied Poland was liberated by the Soviet Army.

But this year, pursuing Moscow's unprovoked penetration of Ukraine, the Auschwitz-Birkenau depository declined to invitation Russian officials and its manager likened the Ukraine warfare to the horrors of the Holocaust.

In response, Russia accused the depository of attempting to "rewrite history".

At the lawsuit connected Friday, depository manager Piotr Cywinski said Auschwitz was created by Nazi "megalomania" and a "similar sick megalomania" and "similar lust for power" had driven Russia's demolition of Mariupol and Donetsk.

Speaking to an assemblage including campy survivors, helium warned that "once again, guiltless radical are being killed en masse successful Europe".

"Russia, incapable to conquer Ukraine, has decided to destruct it. We spot it each day, adjacent arsenic we basal here. And truthful it is hard to basal present today."

Reacting to the decision, Russia said Soviet soldiers who freed Auschwitz would not beryllium forgotten.

"No substance however our European 'non-partners' contrived successful their attempts to rewrite past successful a caller way, the representation of the Soviet heroes-liberators and horrors of Nazism cannot beryllium erased," Russia's overseas ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote successful a pointed societal media post.

Auschwitz survivors besides expressed their fears implicit the fallout of the warfare successful Ukraine astatine the event.

Polish subsister Zdzislawa Wlodarczyk said she was "scared to perceive what is happening successful the East".

She told the assemblage that she had arrived successful Auschwitz arsenic an 11-year-old pursuing the Warsaw Uprising, a failed effort by the Polish absorption successful 1944 to liberate the metropolis from the German occupiers.

She and her 7-year-old member remained successful the campy until the Soviet service liberated it.

"The Russian armies that liberated america are present waging warfare connected Ukraine. Why? Why? That's what authorities is," she said.

The Polish federation has stood steadfast successful its enactment for Ukraine during the conflict, with Poles lodging hundreds of thousands of refugees successful their ain homes and offering subject enactment to its neighbour.

Russian officials person taken portion successful their ain commemorative events, with Vladimir Putin gathering Russia's apical rabbis connected the eve of the remembrance time connected Thursday.

The Russian person said helium was "pursuing a argumentation meaning thing similar this successful the past of mankind volition ever hap again".

Russia's Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar has spoken astir his regret that Russia has been excluded from the commemoration, informing that "these governmental games person nary spot connected Holocaust day".

He told AFP: "For us, this is intelligibly a humiliation due to the fact that we perfectly cognize and retrieve the relation of the Red [Soviet] Army successful the liberation of Auschwitz and successful the triumph implicit Nazism."

Friday's lawsuit marks the 78th day of the Soviet service liberating the attraction and extermination campy successful German-occupied Poland, wherever much than 1 cardinal radical were murdered by the Nazis.

Auschwitz-Birkenau was created arsenic a portion of the Holocaust, a process that started with favoritism against Jewish people, and ended with six cardinal Jews being killed due to the fact that of who they were.

In total, 1.1 cardinal radical died successful the camp, astir 1 cardinal Jews from crossed Europe arsenic good arsenic Poles, Soviet POWs, Roma and Sinti.