Grand Duke Attends Anniversary Event of Auschwitz Liberation at Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial

On Thursday, His Royal Highness the Grand Duke represented Luxembourg at the World Holocaust Forum 2020 at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem, Israel; the event commemorated the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp.

On Wednesday 22 January 2020, the day before the commemoration, the Grand Duke of Luxembourg attended an official dinner organised for around 40 Heads of State and Government by Israel's President Reuven Rivlin.

The following day marked the fifth World Holocaust Forum 2020, organised this year to mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz camp. This year's Forum centred around the theme "Remembering the Holocaust: Fighting Antisemitism". The official ceremony began with speeches from five Israeli / Jewish dignitaries, as well as five heads of delegation.

The commemoration continued in the "Hall of Remembrance" where the Heads of State paid tribute to the victims by laying wreaths at the foot of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising memorial. The ceremony closed with a moment of silence and Israel's national anthem, "Hatikvah".