It was really an impressive sight: the Polish pope who grew up under the Nazi occupation, kneeling in prayer at the dead wall of Auschwitz.
There John Paul II asked God for peace in June 1979 during his visit to what the center had been of the horrible murder machine of the Nazis.
Today, on the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, survivors and family members of the victims also left prayers and flower tribute to the dead wall, as it became known.
Although what is now a reconstruction – the original was dismantled by the Nazis in 1944 – the wall is a moving symbol of the crimes that took place in the camp in the occupied Poland.
Between 1941 and 1944, thousands of people-mainly Polish political prisoners, but also Jews and Soviet prisoners-who had been sentenced to death were set up and shot.
Nearby was block 10, where disturbed doctors – including the infamous Josef Mengele – performed horrible experiments on selected men, women and children.
The visit of John Paul II was followed by both direct successors. Pope Benedict came in 2006, while Pope Francis made the journey in 2016.
Both men also expressed their respect at the dead wall, which was rebuilt after the Second World War when Auschwitz was transformed into the museum that it is still today.
It was really an impressive sight: the Polish pope who grew up under the Nazi occupation, kneeling in prayer at the dead wall of Auschwitz. There John Paul II asked God for peace in June 1979 during his visit to what the center had been of the horrible murder machine of the Nazis.
Today, on the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, Baden survivors and family members of victims also at the dead wall, as it became known
Others who were executed during the dead wall were hostages who were imprisoned after operations performed by the Polish resistance movement.
Prisoners were also flashed in front of the wall and subject to an extremely painful punishment known as the 'post'.
The victim's hands were tied on the back and hung on a pole so that their feet could not hit the ground.
They stayed there for hours, long enough to let the tendons of the victims tear – which meant that those who could no longer work were the risk of being sent to the gas chambers.
Today, Polish President Andrzej Duda joined the survivors of Auschwitz – of whom some of whom had blue and white scarves who reminded of their prison uniforms – by laying wreaths and candles in the dead wall.
Mr. Duda wore a candle and ran with Piotr Cywinski, director of the State Museum of Aschwitz-Birkenau.
At the wall the two men bowed their heads, muttered and hit a cross.
Mr. Duda said: “We Poland, on whose land occupied by Nazi Germans-the Germans have built this destruction industry and this concentration camp, are today the Hoeders of the memory.”
The visit of John Paul II (above) was followed by both direct successors. Pope Benedict came in 2006, while Pope Franciscus made the journey in 2016
Security personnel from the museum treats wreaths while survivors and family members are at the dead wall in Auschwitz
He spoke about the 'unimaginable damage' that so many people have been inflicted, especially the Jewish people.
Later King Charles-the first British head of state to visit the former Nazi concentration camp-will lay his own wreath.
He said earlier in Krakow that the testimonies of survivors of the Holocaust teach us 'never to be a spectator in the light of violence and hate' when he met those who experienced one of the darkest hours of humanity.
Charles visited the heart of the Jewish community of Krakow when the commemorations started on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.
He told those present at the Jewish Community Center (JCC) that commemorating the 'Evil from the past remains a crucial task', and that knowledge must be used to inspire people 'a friendlier and more compassionate world'.
Today, Polish president Andrzej Duda joined the survivors of Auschwitz-of whom some of whom had blue-white scarves who reminded their prison uniforms-by laying wreaths and candles in the dead wall
The reconstruction of the death wall in Auschwitz. Thousands of prisoners were shot for it
Survivors are today at the dead wall in Auschwitz, on the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the camp
The king continued: 'It is a moment when we remember the depth in which humanity can sink when evil can flourish and ignoring the world for too long.
'And it is a moment when we remember the powerful testimonials of survivors such as Lily Ebert, who unfortunately died in October, and who collectively taught us to cherish our freedom, challenge prejudices and never be a spectator in the face of violence and hatred. '
He added that these lessons could not be more important in a world that has seen the 'dangerous revival of anti -Semitism' and remains 'full of unrest and struggle'.
De Koning said: 'Since the number of survivors of the Holocaust unfortunately decreases with the passage of time, the responsibility of the commemoration rests much heavier on our shoulders, and that of the still unborn generations.
“Remembering evil from the past remains a crucial task and by doing this we inform our present and we shape our future.”
