On the eve of the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, Blanco Lustich, a camp survivor and producer of the Oscar-winning best film "Schindler's List," told Xinhua that the memory of the victims of the Holocaust was not for hatred, but to prevent history from repeating itself.
Lustich and another survivor, Boris Brown, will travel to Auschwitz as members of the Croatian delegation to attend the International Day of Commemoration of the Holocaust held there on the 27th.
He said it was not easy for him to return to the place where he had spent his tragic childhood and lost many of his family members, but in order not to be forgotten about that history, especially today, when there are still fascist spectres wandering, he feels he should go. "I am a witness, a witness." He also stressed that the purpose of commemoration is to prevent that period of history from repeating itself.
During World War II, like thousands of Jews, Rustich and his family were thrown into Auschwitz. Several of his family members were killed there, including his grandfather and father. He was rescued on 27 January 1945 when the Red Army liberated Auschwitz. He was nearly 13 years old at the time, but weighed less than 30 kilograms.
(Auschwitz survivor Boris Brown shows the number "120598" on his arm.) It was the number of the prisoner he had been given on his arm during the concentration camp. ）
Like Lustich, the 95-year-old Brown can never forget the nightmare of 70 years ago. Recalling that he and his parents were transported by train to Auschwitz, the elderly man could not help but choke up: "As soon as the train stopped, they pulled my parents away." That was the last time I saw my parents. After the war, he learned that his parents had been sent to the gas chambers and killed that day.
Brown said that some people don't want to talk about that history, and even some people want to deny that history, but history is there. As he spoke, he pulled up the sleeve of his shirt and inscribed "120598" on his left arm. "This is my prison number in the concentration camp, and it's a testament to history," he said.
He said that fewer and fewer people have experienced that history now, and in order to let the younger generation remember history, although he is 95 years old, he still has to go to Auschwitz to tell people about that history that cannot be forgotten. Only in this way can future generations learn their lessons and prevent nightmares from recurring.
Auschwitz was the largest concentration camp built by Nazi Germany during World War II, where at least 1.1 million people were killed. On January 27, 1945, the Red Army liberated Auschwitz. In 2005, the United Nations adopted a resolution designating 27 January of each year as the International Holocaust Remembrance Day. (End)