The United Nations on Monday held a holocaust memorial ceremony to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz on Jan 27, 1945.
The ceremony was held under the theme "Holocaust Remembrance for Dignity and Human Rights."
At the ceremony, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres led the participants in a moment of silence for the victims of the massacre.
In his speech, Guterres said on the day, people mourn for the six million Jews who were brutally murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators, and the people who were also genocided, as well as all those who were enslaved, persecuted, tortured and killed.
The UN chief said the United Nations stands with the victims, survivors and their families, never forgetting the atrocities that shocked the conscience of all humanity.
Also on Monday, Auschwitz survivors and global leaders gathered at the site of the Auschwitz concentration camp in southern Poland to commemorate the 80th anniversary of its liberation.
Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a message to the participants of the ceremony.
In 2005, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution which designated Jan 27 as the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust, the day when Auschwitz death camp was liberated in 1945.
The Auschwitz concentration camp was established by the Nazis in 1940. At least 1.1 million people were murdered there.
United Nations commemorates 80th anniversary of liberation of Auschwitz
United Nations commemorates 80th anniversary of liberation of Auschwitz
United Nations commemorates 80th anniversary of liberation of Auschwitz
