Work under way to mark 80 years since liberation of Auschwitz Nazi death camp

Preparations are under way at Auschwitz II-Birkenau to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration and extermination camp.

The commemoration ceremony will take place on 27 January and will be attended by Holocaust survivors, international guests and Polish authorities.

"The main commemorations at 4pm will begin in a specially-built tent which has been erected over the main gate of the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp, the infamous Death Gate. In front of this gate stands a historical train car. Such cars were used by the Germans to deport people from almost all of occupied Europe to Auschwitz," explained Paweł Sawicki, the deputy spokesperson of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum.

“We estimate that there will be about 50 people with us. Heads of state delegations and representatives of various international organizations will number more than 60. Guests from many institutions that preserve and care for various memorial sites and museums will also be present. We will listen to the words of survivors, something that is extremely important. There are no speeches by politicians here."

Earlier this month, the Polish government issued a statement guaranteeing that Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would not be arrested if he attended the commemoration, despite the International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant against him.

Poland's President Andrzej Duda, from the opposition Law and Justice party (PiS), wrote to the government requesting that Netanyahu not be arrested if he decided to attend the Auschwitz commemoration on 27 January, a presidential aide said.

The office of Prime Minister Donald Tusk published a resolution saying it would ensure the "safe participation of the leaders of Israel in the commemorations".