Remembering the horrors of the world’s past to improve the future

2020 marks the 75th anniversary of the liberation of one of the worst places in human history. That place was the Nazi concentraton camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau. 

Hundreds of thousands of Jewish people were murdered at the camp, as well as many other groups, like Romas, Poles, Soviets, and those suspected of being homosexuals.

 75 years after being liberated by Allied forces, on January 27, 2020, hundreds of survivors and their family members arrived at Auschwitz for the anniversary. These survivors came from all over the world, as the diaspora of the Jewish people after World War Two spread them all throughout the world. Many world leaders also attended the event, such as the President of Poland and the President of Israel.

“Auschwitz was an extermination camp, in which the purpose was to kill people,” said history teacher Lisa Herzl.

The exact number of those killed in Auschwitz and other similar Nazi concentration camps is not known, but is believed to be between five and six million.

Several members of the Triton community have visited Auschwitz and other notable concentration camps. Most people note the great impact visiting the camps had on their perspective of the Holocaust. 

“Being there just made it all the more awful and real” said Kathryn Casaletto, mother of junior Julia Casaletto. 

Remembering the atrocities that took place at Auschwitz serves as a warning to never repeat the same horrors again.

“People were seen like sheep to be slaughtered,” said Polish President Andrzej Duda, referring to the horrid that took place at Auschwitz.

“The truth about the Holocaust must not die,” said Duda.