To mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of Marian Turski, a Polish-Jewish Auschwitz survivor and President of the International Auschwitz Committee, Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice-President of the International Auschwitz Committee, stressed in Berlin:

‘The Polish-Jewish journalist Marian Turski was one of the best-known survivors of Auschwitz. Tomorrow, 26 June, he would have turned 100. His memories of Auschwitz and his realistic view of the world and his fellow human beings always shielded him from cynicism or despair. The speeches he gave at commemorative ceremonies marking the anniversaries of the liberation of the camp in Auschwitz have been heard around the world and are still being heard today.

To this day, his voice reminds, explains, comforts, warns and encourages. Despite his anger at the ever-resurgent anti-Semitic hatred and the re-emergence of the Nazi swamp, he remained true to his message in the face of the growing iciness in human relations:

‘Do not be indifferent’