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Thousands Take Part in 'March of Living' in Auschwitz Concentration Camp

© REUTERS / Kacper PempelPeople walk in front of a gate with the words "Arbeit macht frei" (Work sets you free), in the former Nazi death camp of Auschwitz as thousands of people, mostly youth from all over the world gathered for the annual "March of the Living" to commemorate the Holocaust in Oswiecim, Poland May 5, 2016.
People walk in front of a gate with the words Arbeit macht frei (Work sets you free), in the former Nazi death camp of Auschwitz as thousands of people, mostly youth from all over the world gathered for the annual March of the Living to commemorate the Holocaust in Oswiecim, Poland May 5, 2016. - Sputnik International
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Several thousand Jews from more than 40 countries as well as young Poles marched Thursday from Auschwitz I to Auschwitz II-Birkenau Nazi concentration camp to commemorate victims of the Holocaust, PAP news agency reported.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The march started at main entrance of the Auschwitz I with the famous "Arbeit Macht Frei" ("Work sets you free") sign and ended at Auschwitz II – Birkenau camp. The route length was three kilometers (1.8 miles).

"The March of the Living symbolizes revival of the Jewish people, the Jewish state and the Jewish obligation to defend themselves from those who are annihilating them [Jews]," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an address to participants of the march.

The march began with a sound of the shofar – a traditional Jewish ram’s horn used during holidays. Participants of the rally carried various flags – primarily Israeli and Polish ones.

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Ayelet Shaked, Israeli Minister of Justice, took part in the march.

The March of the Living is an annual educational program established in 1988 to commemorate people killed by Nazis. At different times Polish and Israeli Presidents and Prime Ministers, Nobel Prize winners and priests of different religions took part in it.

Auschwitz was the biggest Nazi death camp operating in 1940 – 1945. About 1.4 million people including about 1.1 Jews had been killed in the camp before the Soviet army liberated it on January 27, 1945. Now Auschwitz-Birkenau is one of the main symbols of the Holocaust and is designated UNESCO World Heritage site.

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