A silent march was held to commemorate the 76th year since the first "Holocaust death train" in Thessaloniki, Greece, March 17, 2019. (Photo: AFP/VNA)

Polish President Andrzej Duda and Auschwitz survivors laid flowers at the “death wall” of the Auschwitz concentration camp, located about 55km west of Kravow city.

The ceremony, which took place at 3pm outside the gate, drew an array of international dignitaries, including King Charles III of England, French President Emmanuel Macron, German President Frank Walter Steinmeier and Prime Minister Olaf Schol, along with about 50 survivors of the Auschwitz camp.

This year’s ceremony focused on speeches by victims instead of leaders. As time passes and history becomes more distant, survivors worldwide emphasized the importance of preserving memories of what happened, even as living witnesses grow fewer. Survivors also voiced concern over the increasing hatred and anti-Semitism around the globe, fearing that history could repeat itself.

Auschwitz, the largest Nazi extermination camp, has become a symbol of the Holocaust, during which Nazi Germany murdered 6 million European Jews. One million Jews perished at Auschwitz between 1940 and 1945, along with more than 100,000 non-Jewish victims.

On January 27, 1945, the Soviet Red Army liberated the infamous “death camp” and found about 7,000 survivors. The day was later adopted as the International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

In a speech on Monday in Moscow, Russia, Russian President Vladimir Putin praised the Soviet Red Army soldiers who ended the crimes of Auschwitz. He said the greatness of this victory will forever be recorded in world history and is the driving force for Russia to make efforts to prevent the spread of anti-Semitism, anti-Russianism or other racist ideologies.