MOSCOW, January 27. /TASS/. Chief Rabbi of Russia Berel Lazar has said it’s humiliating that Russia wasn’t invited to the event to mark an anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp by the Red Army.
It was earlier reported that the ceremony to mark 78 years since the Red Army liberated the Auschwitz death camp wouldn’t be attended by representatives of Russia.
"It’s not the first time, unfortunately, that Russia hasn’t been invited to Oswiecim. It’s definitely a humiliation for us because we know and remember perfectly well the role of the Red Army in the liberation of Oswiecim, the victory over Nazism," he said after a ceremony dedicated to International Holocaust Remembrance Day at the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center.
Lazar also said any people should find ways to express gratitude to those who saved it from annihilation.
"For our people the role of Russia, the Soviet Union was decisive at the time. There’s surely no place for these political games on Holocaust [Remembrance] Day," he said.
Around 6 million Jews and people of other nationalities were killed in Nazi concentration camps during the Second World War. The Soviet Army liberated the Auschwitz death camp on January 27, 1945. By the decision of the UN General Assembly, this day has been marked across the world as International Holocaust Remembrance Day since 2005.