And according to the Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS, Russia's chief rabbi, Beryl Lazar, will present Putin with a medal to commemorate the event, which will be held tomorrow at the former death-camp:
"'Soviet soldiers played the most important part in liberating the prisoners of Auschwitz. We will always remember how they saved our brothers,' Rabbi Lazar stressed.The 60th anniversary of the Auschwitz liberation on January 27 is not just an important date for Jews, he said. 'If we remember what happened, we can prevent the repetition of the merciless elimination of not only Jews, but others as well,' Rabbi Lazar said. Rabbi Lazar also compared the Nazi's with terrorists. 'Terrorists want to conquer the whole world just like the Nazis. They also eliminate anyone who disagrees with them, twisting any ideology to hide their own agendas,' Rabbi Lazar said."
This event is part of this year's continuing celebration in Russia of the 60th anniversary of the 1945 Allied victory over the Nazis. The festivities began with Novi God re-enactments of the battle of Moscow. There are WWII-era posters up in our local Hermitage park, and several other celebrations are planned.