Auschwitz survivors warn of anti-Semitism

Some 200 survivors of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp traveled from around the world to mark the 75th anniversary of its liberation on Monday. Many of them came to the site, now a memorial museum, with their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Nazi forces murdered 1.1 million people, mostly Jewish, at the camp during World War II before the Soviet army liberated it on Jan. 27, 1945.

What was the theme of the gathering? While politics occasionally sidetracked the World Holocaust Forum in Jerusalem last week, this memorial focused on the survivors. Many expressed concern about growing anti-Semitism today. “I think they pick on the Jews because we are such a small minority, and it is easy to pick on us,” said 96-year-old Auschwitz survivor Jeanette Spiegel. “Young people should understand that nothing is for sure, that some terrible things can happen, and they have to be very careful. And that, God forbid, what happened to the Jewish people then should never be repeated.”

Dig deeper: Read Sophia Lee’s report in WORLD Magazine about how the internet has fueled the rise of anti-Semitism.