
Holocaust survivors and world leaders gathered at Auschwitz in southern Poland yesterday to commemorate 80 years since the liberation of the largest Nazi concentration and extermination camp.
More than 1.1 million people, mostly Jews, were systematically executed at Auschwitz during World War II, primarily by poison gas, as part of the Nazi party's plans to form an ethnically German state (see history). Others in the camp died from mass shootings, starvation, and disease before Soviet troops arrived and freed roughly 7,000 prisoners. In total, around 6 million Jews were killed across German-occupied Europe from 1941 to 1945. Roughly 220,000 Jewish Holocaust survivors are still alive today, with ages ranging from their late 70s to over 100 years old. See a virtual tour of Auschwitz here. Listen to firsthand accounts here.
Separately, an exhibit featuring a full-scale replica of Anne Frank's home—where she hid with her parents, sister, and others before being discovered by the Nazis—opened in New York City yesterday.
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