Church, state leaders mark 60th anniversary of Auschwitz liberation

Published: 2005-01-28

OSWIECIM, Poland (CNS) -- Church leaders joined heads of state in commemorating the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, where more than a million mostly Jewish civilians were killed during World War II. "The silence of Auschwitz-Birkenau's victims impels us to uphold and order the upholding of the dignity of each human being," Jewish-born Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger of Paris said in a speech during the Jan. 27 commemorations. "We are summoned to consider the past and think about the future, so we will stay conscious of the responsibility we carry," he said. The 78-year-old French church leader, whose mother died in an Auschwitz gas chamber, spoke during the international ceremony on the site of the former German-run camp.

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