US Senator reflects on Auschwitz liberation anniversary
PR dla Zagranicy
Nick Hodge
23.01.2015 12:23
US Senator Barbara Mikulski has reflected on the legacy of the former Nazi German death camp of Auschwitz in the lead-up to Tuesday's 70th anniversary of the liberation of the site.
The entrance to the former death camp of Birkenau. Photo: wikipedia/A. Celedon
Democrat Mikulski, whose great-grandparents were Polish immigrants, stressed at the Senate Forum that 90 percent of the victims of Auschwitz were Jews, adding that the state of Israel must exist, so as to provide security for Jews.
She also noted that the camp was originally intended to be for ethnic Poles.
''In occupied Poland, the Nazi governor Hans Frank declared that Poles would forever be slaves of the Third Reich,'' Mikulski said.
The senator also highlighted the efforts of the Polish resistance in attempting to aid Jews, naming figures such as courier Jan Karski and Irena Sendler.
It is estimated that over 1 million people perished at the combined camps of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Besides Jews from across Europe, the victims included ethnic Poles, Soviet POWs, Roma and Sinti. (nh)
Source: IAR