After a year lost due to the pandemic, this Tuesday, the Department of Alpes-Maritimes, accompanied by a delegation of 9th-grade students from 7 colleges in the Alpes-Maritimes (*), participated in the inaugural Journey of Remembrance to Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland, a concentration and extermination camp. During the Second World War, in five years, more than 1,100,000 men, women, and children died in Auschwitz, including 900,000 on the day of their arrival, generally by train. 90% of the victims were Jewish.
Due to its size, Auschwitz is considered the symbol of the mass murders committed by the Nazis and more specifically of the Holocaust, during which nearly six million Jews were murdered. A major historical and cultural monument contributing to the “duty of remembrance,” Auschwitz has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979.
For 18 years, the Departmental Council of Alpes-Maritimes has been raising awareness among young generations about the horrors committed by the Nazis and enables them to approach with clarity and courage the conditions in which the irreparable and unspeakable were committed, so that such tragedies never happen again.
The first Journeys of Remembrance were initiated in 2003/2004, as part of the commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the Holocaust. Since their creation, 86 journeys have been organized and 15,700 students from the Alpes-Maritimes have participated for an unforgettable formative experience.
