Auschwitz survivors have gathered at the site of the former Nazi death camp to mark the 70th anniversary of its liberation.
The commemoration will be held at the site in southern Poland where 1.1 million people, most of them Jews, were killed between 1940 and 1945.
It is expected to be the last major anniversary event that survivors are able to attend in numbers. This year, about 300 survivors have gathered for the event.
Heads of state and representatives from many wartime Allies will be present.
Events include the laying of a wreath, a church service, and the lighting of candles at a memorial in the former death camp of Birkenau, which was part of the Auschwitz complex.
Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated by the Red Army of the Soviet Union on January 27, 1945.
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Silvio Berlusconi has sparked outrage in Germany by saying “for the Germans, concentration camps never existed”.
The former Italian prime minister was referring to a previous gaffe in which he told a German member of European Parliament that he could play a Nazi concentration camp guard in a film.
His latest comments were at a rally in Milan ahead of the European elections.
German Families Minister Manuela Schwesig said Silvio Berlusconi’s “attacks” against Germans were “unspeakable”.
Silvio Berlusconi has sparked outrage in Germany by saying that for the Germans, concentration camps never existed (photo Wikipedia)
Silvio Berlusconi was referring to a 2003 incident involving Martin Schulz, who is now president of the European parliament.
He had said to Martin Schulz: “I know that in Italy there is a man producing a film on Nazi concentration camps – I shall put you forward for the role of Kapo [guard] – you would be perfect.”
The president of Martin Schulz’s Socialists and Democrats (S&D) bloc, Hannes Swoboda, called Silvio Berlusconi’s latest comments “sickening”.
This is the latest in a long line of Silvio Berlusconi comments to have sparked criticism.
Silvio Berlusconi is one of Italy’s richest men and served as prime minister for nine months from May 1994 and then again for two terms from 2001 to 2006 and from 2008 to 2011.
He faced frequent allegations of conflicts of interest but it was Italy’s debt crisis that forced his resignation in 2011.
Silvio Berlusconi is embroiled in several legal cases and in 2012 was convicted of tax fraud, leading to his expulsion from the Italian Senate. His sentence for that conviction was to carry out community service in an old people’s home.
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