Israel hosts Holocaust remembrance forum

Leaders from around the world gathered in Jerusalem on the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland. The World Holocaust Forum on Thursday focused on mourning the murders of 6 million Jews during World War II and combating modern anti-Semitism. Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Emmanuel Macron, Britain’s Prince Charles, and U.S. Vice President Mike Pence attended the three-hour ceremony at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial.

What did they have to say? Pence’s speech calling on world leaders to confront Iran, “the leading state purveyor of anti-Semitism,” received a warm reception from the Israeli audience. Polish President Andrzej Duda refused to attend because he wasn’t invited to speak amid a running feud with Russia over the nations’ roles in World War II. Putin has tried to play down the Soviet Union’s pre-war pact with the Nazis and shift responsibility for the war onto Poland. In his speech at the event, Putin made controversial historical claims about how many Jewish Holocaust victims were Soviet.

Dig deeper: From the WORLD archives, read about the history and design of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington.