All surviving Auschwitz prisoners are invited to attend with each being allowed to bring one person for support. The Auschwitz Memorial and Museum has emphasized the emotional and physical challenges of attending such an event at the site of such historical trauma.

One symbolic element of the anniversary is a freight train car placed at the main entrance. This is to honor the memory of around 420,000 Hungarian Jews who were deported to Auschwitz.

Between 1940 and 1945 the Nazis murdered an estimated 1.1 million people at Auschwitz most of them Jews along with Polish people, Roma and Soviet prisoners of war. January 27 was declared International Holocaust Memorial Day by the United Nations in 2005 to remember the victims particularly the six million Jews who perished under Nazi rule.

This year’s observance occurs in the context of rising antisemitism in Europe spurred by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) has reported a significant increase in antisemitic incidents since the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas in October 2023. This surge in hatred has made Jewish communities in Europe feel increasingly unsafe with many opting to hide their identity or avoid Jewish events.

The Middle East conflict has also led to a rise in Islamophobia across Europe with reports of attacks on mosques and individuals of Muslim faith.