On the 27 of January 1945 the Soviet Red Army liberated the prisoners of the biggest Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau (Oswiecim) in Poland.

On the 27 of January 1945 the Soviet Red Army liberated the prisoners of the biggest Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau (Oswiecim) in Poland. 

The liberation of Auschwitz by the Soviet soldiers marked the end of the mass extermination of people, mostly Jews, in the Nazi death camp. 

This day is the symbol of the end of the Nazi genocide. Since 2005 the 27th of January is commemorated as the International Holocaust Remembrance Day by the United Nations. 

Today, on January 27, 2023, President of Russia Vladimir Putin sent a message to the organisers and participants of events held as part of International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the 78th anniversary of the liberation of prisoners at the Auschwitz-Birkenau (Oswiecim) concentration camp by the Red Army.

The message reads:

“Today, on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, we remember a dramatic moment of World War II when the Red Army liberated prisoners at the Auschwitz-Birkenau (Oswiecim) concentration camp. 

Of course, we mourn the millions of dead innocent people – Jews and people from other ethnic groups – who were shot, tortured, or died of hunger and illnesses.

It was primarily the Soviet nation that put an end to the barbaric Nazi plans in 1945 by standing up for the freedom and independence of its motherland, saving the Jewish people and other ethnic groups from total annihilation and enslavement.

We must clearly understand that any attempts to revise our country’s contribution to achieving the Great Victory de facto means justifying Nazi crimes and paves the way to reviving its deadly ideology. 

Horrible tragedies can happen again if we forget the lessons of history, as demonstrated by the crimes against civilians, ethnic cleansing and punitive operations carried out by neo-Nazis in Ukraine. It is this evil that our warriors are currently fighting courageously, shoulder to shoulder.”