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| FSB publishes archival documents for 80th anniversary of Auschwitz liberation |
| 2025-01-28 |
| Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. [Regnum] The declassified archival interrogation protocols of the Pole Jozef Pechka, who worked as a guard at the Auschwitz concentration camp, were published by the Public Relations Center (PRC) of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation. The man served in the Polish army and was captured by the Nazis in 1939 during the conquest of Poland. He was released two months after his captivity. Pechka also received German citizenship. For evading military service, he was sent to Auschwitz, where he later became a guard. In 1943, he served his sentence and was released. The Soviet military counterintelligence agency SMERSH, who were collecting evidence of crimes in Auschwitz, arrested a group of people who collaborated with the concentration camp administration. Among these people was Pechka. During interrogation, he admitted that he had the opportunity to escape from the concentration camp, but he took advantage of the situation because he liked the status of a guard. Pechka also said that he regularly beat concentration camp prisoners with a stick. In addition, according to the arrested man, every night his group sent from 100 to 500 prisoners' bodies to cremation. “The SS men, non-commissioned officers, capos (overseers) and block leaders committed brutal abuse against prisoners in the camp, exhausted them with backbreaking work, beat them and killed them, thereby taking an active part in the destruction of innocent people,” Pechka said during interrogation. According to the FSB Public Relations Center, during the investigation the man was diagnosed with schizophrenia. After the diagnosis, Pechka was sent to a psychiatric hospital. In 1955, he was handed over to the authorities of the German Democratic Republic (GDR). As reported by the Regnum news agency, on January 27, the Russian Defense Ministry published archival documents with testimonies from Red Army soldiers and Auschwitz prisoners about numerous instances of mass murder committed by the Nazis in the concentration camp. In addition, the Nazis actively experimented on prisoners. According to the memoirs of prisoner Gina Goldstein, the fascists experimented a lot on women. Russian President Vladimir Putin noted that the Red Army liberated Auschwitz, revealing to humanity the truth about the crimes of the Nazis and their accomplices. He added that the Russian Federation will not forget that it was the Soviet soldier who crushed Nazism and won the Victory. The Red Army liberated Auschwitz on January 27, 1945. In 1947, a memorial complex was founded on the site of the concentration camp. Related from regnum.ru Germany condemns refusal to invite Russia to Auschwitz liberation anniversary The decision of the Polish authorities to refuse Russia an invitation to events in honor of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz was called a disgrace by the former candidate for the presidency of Germany, professor of economics at the University of Applied Sciences Max Otte. The politician wrote about this on January 26 on the social network X. "Russia is not invited to the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. This is a real shame," Otte said. The politician recalled that Auschwitz was liberated by the Red Army, and it was Russia that bore the brunt of World War II. Events to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp will be held in Oswiecim on January 27. Several dozen state delegations will attend. It is specified that representatives from Moscow have not been invited there. On January 27, 1945, the Red Army liberated the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. At the time of liberation, there were just over 7,000 prisoners left in the camp, including several hundred children. Historians estimate that the Nazis killed between 1.4 and 1.8 million people in the death camp, most of whom were Jews. In 1947, a memorial complex was founded on the site of the concentration camp. Earlier, Regnum News Agency reported that Russian diplomats would not take part in the event marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau in the Polish town of Oswiecim. Russian Ambassador to Warsaw Sergei Andreyev noted that diplomats would celebrate the day in their circle. The refusal to invite the Moscow delegation outraged Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. He called the decision "perversion" and added that the creators of the concentration camp would most likely be invited. On December 19, during a direct line, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that Russia does not seek to participate in any commemorative events in the West on the occasion of the anniversaries of World War II. It is enough that the country does not forget the feat of Soviet soldiers who saved Europe and the world and stopped the Holocaust. |
| Posted by:badanov |