🌟 #OnThisDay 8️⃣0️⃣ years ago, on January 27, 1945, Auschwitz-Birkenau (Oswiecim, was located in Nazi-occupied Poland) — the most terrifying German extermination camp in #WWII — was liberated by the Red Army’s 1st Ukrainian Front during the Vistula–Oder offensive operation.

#Auschwitz was created by the Nazis in 1940 in a building that used to serve as military barracks near a small town called Oswiecim, whose history dates back to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Having occupied Poland in 1939, the Nazis changed the town's name of Oswiecim to German Auschwitz. Later, in 1941-1943, two more imprisonment facilities were established in the vicinity of Oswiecim. They were:

▪️Auschwitz II — best known to the wider public as #AuschwitzBirkenau, was three kilometres away from the main facility — Oswiecim and located near Brzezinka, a Polish village (Birkenau in German). Auschwitz-Birkenau was the largest "death factory". Equipped with crematoriums and gas chambers, it was created by the Nazis with only one aim — exterminate people.

▪️Auschwitz III (also known as Monowitz). Its prisoners were used by the Nazis for the Third Reich war industries.

Following the so-called Wannsee Conference in 1942, the Nazis approved what was called the “final solution to the Jewish question”. Since then, Auschwitz-Birkenau was turned into the main "death factory" for the annihilation of Jews in Europe.

❗️ Prisoners of Oswiecim were held by the Nazis in inhuman, barbaric conditions. They had to do hard, exhausting work until total exhaustion, to endure poor sanitation in the camp's facilities, malnutrition and constant tortures by the guards and SS-troops. It was in Oswiecim that the Germans first tested the "Zyklon-B" poisonous agent on human beings. Prisoners of Auschwitz were also subjected to cruel medical experiments, led by a Nazi criminal, infamous retired military doctor Josef Mengele.

In 1944, when the Red Army started the liberation of Europe, the Nazis, in an effort to cover the tracks of their crimes in Auschwitz, rushed to burn documents and destroy the camp's gas chambers, crematoriums, and deported as many prisoners as they could westward to other concentration camps deep in the Third Reich — over 58,000 prisoners were evacuated by the Nazis before Oswiecim and liberated by the Soviet forces in January, 1945.

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In January 1945, the units of the 1st Ukrainian Front launched the Vistula-Oder offensive and, successfully expelling the Nazis from Poland, finally reached Auschwitz.

⚔️ In the late hours of January 27, following three days of fighting the retreating enemy, the Red Army took over Oswiecim and opened the gates of Auschwitz. The camp’s 7,000 prisoners were freed. Most of them were sick or suffering from extreme exhaustion and tortures.

Rescued prisoners burst into tears of joy when they greeted their liberators. Some facilities of the camp were instantly made a hospital. According to various historic estimates, in 1940-1945, from 1.5 to 4 million people perished in Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Over the past years, we are witnessing a campaign in several European countries, including Poland, to rewrite and falsify the history of WWII and, in particular, to erase the memory of the feat performed by the Soviet soldiers-liberators who saved the Auschwitz prisoners.

🎙 From a briefing by Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on topical foreign policy issues (January 23, 2025):

💬 "This year, like all those years before, Russian representatives will not be invited to the commemoration ceremonies at Auschwitz-Birkenau on January 27. That is, there will be no one there to mention the Soviet liberator soldiers and express gratitude to them. In this regard, there is something that needs to be said to the organisers and all the Europeans who will be there:

Your lives, your work and leisure, the very existence of your nations, your children have been paid for by Soviet soldiers, their lives, their blood. It was them who crushed the Third Reich machine. You are forever in their debt."

🕯 #WeRemember

⭐ The School by the Embassy of Russia in Cambodia continues to hold events dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory.

On March 24-28, “The Hero's Name is My Name!” patriotic action took place. Throughout the month pupils collected materials and prepared an information stand dedicated to people who performed heroic deeds during the Great Patriotic War, whose names coincided with the names of the pupils. The children decided to extend the action – at the moment they are preparing a video about war heroes.

Within the framework of the International “Victory Bouquet” flash mob, origami master classes on making red carnations were held at the school. During the session, students learnt why this flower is one of the Victory symbols.

📃 On March 28, pupils of all grades took part in the recitation contest “Their Lines Were Rhymed by War...”. Poems by Alexander Tvardovsky, Konstantin Simonov, Olga Bergholz, Alexey Surkov, Bulat Okudzhava and other poets were performed from the stage. The jury announced the prize winners and awarded them with certificates at the school assembly.

#Victory80 #WeRemember

🇷🇺 The Embassy of Russia in Cambodia continues to cover the activities of the “Vympel-Poisk MSU” search team.

Today we will talk about the most important find of the searchers - a soldier's medallion.

🪖 On the eve of the Great Patriotic War a new type of medallion was introduced – a black hexagonal capsule with a screw-on lid and a double paper insert. The insert contained basic information about the soldier: full name, rank, year and place of birth, recruitment office, and family information. The soldiers of the 8th Division of the People's Militia had exactly such medallions. And almost the only way to discover the name of the perished is to identify them by such a medallion.

However, this process is difficult for a few reasons. For decades of exposure to earth and water, even a plastic protected insert often decays and takes the name of the fallen soldier with it forever. It was also considered bad luck among soldiers to fill the medallion, which was also called a “death medallion”, so many of the capsules found are empty.

⭐ The first three photos show the moment of opening a soldier's medallion found during a search expedition in 2018. To prevent the paper insert, which had been in a plastic case for more than 80 years, from falling apart, it is slowly unfolded in a tub of water.

📃 The fourth photo shows the filled insert of the Red Army soldier Shimanov Viktor Vasilyevich. His remains were discovered by the search team in the spring of 2016 near the village of Uvarovo. The machine gunner was only 16 years old when killed.

📷 Daria Smirnova

#Victory80 #WeRemember #VympelPoiskMSU

🇷🇺 24 апреля в преддверии празднования 80-летия Великой Победы в Посольстве России в Камбодже стартовала акция «Георгиевская лента». К мероприятию присоединился коллектив дипмиссии во главе с Послом А.В.Боровиком, ученики и преподаватели Школы при Посольстве.

#Победа80 #МыПомним

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🇷🇺 On April 24, on the eve of the 80th Anniversary of the Great Victory, the Embassy of Russia in Cambodia launched the Saint George’s Ribbon campaign. The team of the Russian diplomatic mission led by H.E. Mr Anatoly Borovik, teachers and pupils of the Embassy School joined the event.

#Victory80 #WeRemember

🌳 On May 5, Russian Embassy in Cambodia joined the “Garden of Memory” International Campaign. Three mango trees were planted in memory of those who fell for the freedom of the Motherland.

The event was attended by H.E. Mr Anatoly Borovik, Russian Ambassador to Cambodia, and his Spouse, staff of the diplomatic mission, pupils and teachers of the Embassy School. The head of the diplomatic mission noted the importance of this initiative for the education of the younger generation.

🇷🇺 The “Garden of Memory” Campaign has been held since 2020. The goal of this large-scale project is the annual planting of 27 million trees in memory of Soviet citizens who died during the Great Patriotic War.

#Victory80 #GardenOfMemory #WeRemember