The world is today marking 75 years since the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp.
It was one of the darkest periods in human history.
Today is Holocaust Memorial Day and we stop to remember those who died as well as the 200 survivors who are gathering in Poland to commemorate the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau.
The survivors are mostly in their eighties or nineties now. They have been recalling the horror they suffered during the imprisonment, and the brutality they witnessed.
More than one million people were murdered at Auschwitz, in Nazi-occupied southern Poland. More than 90 per cent of those at the camp were Jewish, and around 200,000 were from the Roma people community or were mentally and physically disabled.
The Duchess of Cambridge meanwhile has taken photographs of survivors for part of an exhibition.
The duchess said her subjects were ‘two of the most life-affirming people that I have had the privilege to meet.’
One of her portraits features 84-year-old Steven Frank, originally from Amsterdam, who survived being housed in multiple concentration camps. He is pictured with two granddaughters Maggie and Trixie Fleet, aged 15 and 13.
Holocaust Memorial Day is held on January 27 every year, which is today.
'It’s important to share individuals’ stories and photos because it’s very easy to get lost in the sheer scale of the Holocaust' – @marinamaral2 explains on Holocaust Memorial Day https://t.co/dcsZiVT6mN
— Metro (@MetroUK) January 23, 2020
Today is Holocaust Memorial Day. We remember the six million Jewish men, women and children murdered, honour those who survived and pledge to learn the lessons of the dark history of Europe pic.twitter.com/u11VbylUtd
— H.E.T. (@HolocaustUK) January 27, 2020
