the at. the end of a well welcome to you i'm on the thought she was come to the special program. in jerusalem ceremonies are getting underway at the yob vosh a memorial to the victims of the nazi holocaust it's the 1st of a series of events marking the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the auschwitz concentration camp and international holocaust remembrance day on monday among the dozens of heads of state and government are russian president vladimir putin french president in london mccraw and the president of germany frank foster steinmeier he will deliver the 1st speech by a german president at the yacht vashem memorial. you and the king at live pictures coming to you from yard washing memorial in jerusalem well leaders are gradually arriving there to take part in the 5th holocaust forum as the holocaust commemoration gets underway d.w. we'll bring you special coverage of the event for some 4 hours as you can see those live pictures coming to you from there some 40 plus world leaders are going to be attending the ceremonies in jerusalem at. and some of them as you can see have already gathered there in the center hall let's go straight to our correspondent peter here in jerusalem peter tell us more about the gathering that's taking place in jerusalem today what's going to be happening there. yes as you could just see the world leaders are just starting to arrive here yep a sham in jerusalem they of course here to commemorate the liberation of the auschwitz death camp 75 years ago they'll do sit together with around 100 holocaust survivors with come to your question today and i asked one of them how he thinks we can keep the memory alive once they're all gone because then the ninety's or even 100 years old and he said with events like this on days like this. right now the holocaust commemoration comes at a time when acts of anti semitic violence are on the rise in many parts of the world will this issue be raised in speeches there today do you think. yes absolutely i'm sure that for example frank by that steinmeier the german president in his speech will not only look back at the holocaust a german guilt i'm sure he will also talk about anti-semitism today in germany because the terror attack on the synagogue in hollin last october is still on everybody's mind and i'm sure people here will want to hear what germany is thinking about that how we can act against this modern act isn't it isn't that this gathering in god version was supposed to be the biggest political event since the founding of israel in $948.00 but how do ordinary people that in israel feel about these commemorations. well usually israel commemorates the holocaust on. the day remembering to show up that's in april but i think many israelis today have embraced this when i think many people are proud that so many world leaders have come to jerusalem today and i think for them it is a sign off solidarity with their country and i think that's why many people here am i happy about this event even though it means for them traffic jams in the city of course right. thank you very much for that update from jerusalem of course we'll be talking to you throughout the next few hours of the developments that. deja gras was just a teenager when she was deported from prague and a death in auschwitz now $91.00 days just spoke to her home in israel it is will be at the former death camp for the official holocaust remembrance day on monday but for detail it's a piss she never wants to see again the horrors she experienced a fatah much for her to bear and this is my. books. in the bricks. my number is 76305 which i had to shout twice daily at counting. a pill. you had to shout a number down triptych 1100 films the air was full of ash like snow from the from the smoke from the chimneys. and the spirit and she's from from the came accordion. and. we just had to understand that this is what happens there when the train arrived there were prisoners who started luggage to make. mountains of clothes of shoes of food of bread of and escaped from the book they somehow managed to bring it to the church and proc. there were some 12 or 14 books on the book so fred invented is for his maybe library and you are in charge of people being killed in gas chambers and bodies being burnt in claremont toria and the ashes if they're in the air the day they cover their ass and they're all dead orders for roundings in use at our time will come in june we had 6 months grace to live which we knew we knew we knew we are going to die into and everybody knew that i won't ever go back to auschwitz i can't bear it that. hundreds and thousands of people go and step there on the ashes to ashes are or over or over there there's a. there's they're stepping on the dead people. the words of the holocaust survivor 91 as i was speaking to d.w. from israel now with me in the studio i have did of his chief political editor michel a crew from there and did a reporter. of all welcome to both a few shani families talked with you yourself off from israel how important is this gathering today. for the country very much very much you see everybody's quite excited looking forward to it. i mean for israelis this is new to commemorate the holocaust on january usually in april before independence day but the fact that so many world leaders so many people from all over the world gathered to come and make that statement i think it's very meaningful for israelis at this time yes very much and it me should i what about for germany as we had german president from is the 1st leader to be making an address at yad vashem today absolutely and it shows a very special relationship that germany and israel have the country whose many citizens whose population has suffered most of the holocaust in particular of the 2nd world war and the country that started the 2nd world war the perpetrators this is a message that has been continuous through the relationship between the 2 countries after 945 it took 20 years to actually reestablish or to establish diplomatic relations between the 2 countries then in 2008 german chancellor angela merkel was also the 1st head of government to speak before the knesset in israel and there she sent a very strong message that it's become the d.n.a. of german politics that israel security was a reason of state here in germany that germany feels responsible for the security of the jewish state so a very special moment though to today see germany's president speak at this very very historic moment and shanny you know from my is one of more than 40 heads of government in state attending so. mini's there why did so many internationally does decide to come for this particular anniversary only 5 years it's an important number i think it's also. brings us at this moment in time are we talking the rise of end to semitism in populism you know we see it all across europe the us all modern countries everybody is suffering from that i think the need to make that bold statement was quite quite remarkable for so many people to feel that need as well to stand behind it understanding we need to put some strong foot down and say we are not accepting you know we see the deterioration in discourse and in dialogue we see how he trade is raising its head all over the world and we want to put a stop to it right now and do meeting a lot of historical responsibility for what happened during the nazi regime particularly the holocaust tell us more about how it expresses this well there is no german leader who will not refer to this very special responsibility that germany has historically also when there is accusations of anti semitism this is taken always very seriously particular so in german institutions at the same time we're seeing more and more indications that this story corps experience has not made german society immune to anti-semitism and racism and that's also why we've already heard from israel's president. rivlin thank you i was going to say rove and the rivlin who once world leaders at the state to take a stance against racism extremism and anti semitism who demands this kind of historic responsibility from mankind one can say to keep a watch out that this should indeed never happen again if i if i may add we are also at a time that we see you know holcomb's of ivors are diminishing we have fewer and fewer of them and live so now it's. setting the scene of how do we remember how do we deal with holocaust numbers remembrance for the next decades and i think this is some somewhat of a junction an important point in history where we need to determine ok once we says we're losing the witnesses we're losing the people who were there and can tell us what happened we had to maybe agree on the rules of how we how we discuss this how we remember the what's the narrative the joint narratives of the world and perpetrators and victims alike can share and one set out there for the world ok we go into these issues in a little bit more detail but 1st let's take a look at the millions of jews of a model in the holocaust or the sure of this also called a commemorative of the yod version in morial did of these tiny a crema visited and saw how it's keeping the memory of holocaust victims alive for younger generations. leading a tour through jerusalem's holocaust memorial yobs sham is always special for jonathan matthews today the young israeli researcher is guiding a group of israeli schoolchildren with its monumental architecture a powerful exhibition it's a place like no other to learn about the shoah generally speaking the whole concept of telling the story in this museum and perhaps connecting different generations story the holocaust is by focusing on the victims and once they focus on the victim we have naturally historic information in the scene but we also have personal artifacts and video testimony of the survivors the individual stories of the victims are an essential part of the museum making the horrors of the show a tangible over 75 years later the increasingly elderly survivors are slowly disappearing poses a challenge with the museum educational programs its comprehensive archive and a large collection of documents yeah the sham aims to keep the victims memories alive the exhibition also deals with the nazis rise to power to tell a tarion regimes. semitism of us an issue that is just as relevant today this is a topic that worries me and to semitism in the holocaust denial and this is one of the reasons i believe that it's important for me to work yourself as an individual but also i think it demands more active involvement of different governments in the world to deal with this problem i'm going to use the whole of names many victims never left a trace never had a headstone or a grave it's a memorial for all of the 6000000 murdered jews young israelis often learn about the holocaust through their own family histories annual memorial services on school from the age of 16 school groups usually go t. out that was a visit like this is never easy. it's my 1st time here and i walked in and it was overwhelming and difficult to see. if you feel their suffering what they went through can you can see and hear many artifacts from that period and it's really tough for me. i said. i think it's very important to conserve this because people need to know what happened. and to prevent this from happening in the future again here and to show that even in hard times there were people who kept up their hopes and helped others and tried to survive. yad vashem a place to reflect on what's happened over 75 years ago and a commitment to keeping that memory alive for generations to come. so roseanne and mission are still with me risen we saw what they're doing in israel trying to keep the memory alive for the 4 young generations have you yourself been to god bush of course it wasn't like it's a mandatory stop for every elementary school kid in israel it won't be for $1314.00 but that everybody goes there it's a very in 1000000 of a sham stands for ya which is a hand and name. for each and every of the fallen $6000000.00 victims so it's just part of you know it's sort of the there and point of a long. engagement with that as a student in israel of course you have the also the annual memorial day for where where there's a there's a moment of silence been mentioned by sirens in israel where you stop and you take the time to think and connect with that israel has managed throughout the years to make the the holocaust and the stories of the victims accessible to very young children from very young age in very communicative ways you know if it's and frank if it's you know and further on into the details and stories of kids throughout the holocaust as it is you're young but then as you go up further into the stories of what happened in ascending or the historical meaning of what happened there so this is something quite strong with an israeli narrative as you go it's a part of it's part of who you are part of you are brilliant and we shall know what was it for you like growing up in germany will you talk about the holocaust and all the horrors that took place in the nazi regime while you were at school yes this is was an integral part of my schooling in west germany although in east germany it was somewhat a different picture from what i've learnt since and clearly and aware when this was being created of the historical responsibility of also like to come back to something that frank but as time of the german president said that one shouldn't forget the individuals between behind those very large numbers more than a 1000000 people died in auschwitz alone and today i mean i'm. i'm a mother myself and i struggle to explain to a youngster and we saw those youngsters in that report that not just the magnitude of what happened but that children were killed that humans can do something like that to each other that's a very individual experience for everyone to let sink in and to understand those very few survivors we still have now a telling us that they are seeing signs again that something like this could be possible that that's how it all started looking at the signs of anti-semitism in europe that is something that really should not just that leaders listen up but everybody in their own society so what if you're saying that efforts are being made in both countries to keep very much the memory of the holocaust in the horrors of the holocaust alive so the young generation is aware of what they what happened now why we're talking. before we continue our conversation before today is official so many germany's president from. met holocaust survivors at a community center in jerusalem he had some how doing stories. 6 to 9 it was the number assigned to our leaders find derek and rich. it's not the only number in his story of survival against the odds. he survived 10 concentration camps including. like many survivors the 102 year old has kept silent about his ordeal for decades in this center in jerusalem survivors meet and receive psychological counseling some of them only joined in their eighty's or ninety's they value the sense of community and a shared experience of remembrance german president. paid a visit to the center ahead of a commemoration service at the young. and spoke with the survivors one of them is 92 year old. she was deported to auschwitz where her parents were murdered. every person who survived the shoah has a special story to tell. their survivors were born in different countries but they're united by a common experience the loss of parents of siblings and of torture in the camps. in. this view i want to assure you that we are aware of germany's responsibility. and i said repeatedly that this is a responsibility that has no cutoff point because. for leaders find so beric the visit of the german head of state is an important gesture she said siecle which agrees but for her what matters most is a safe haven for jews. jew now in. around or over has the option of coming through and getting away from anti semitism reaches that if. and you know what that is naomi not germany and would be in her in america and frankly that are still she speaks of reconciliation. never. forget event. it never has this but illyria's final barrack has taken revenge his own way. 21 great grandchildren that is my revenge on the nazis that i'm alive but after 510 concentration camps. it is important to speak about what happened in those camps he believes and not just on remembering stays. they move in to hear the tales of the survivors now the organizer of today's commemoration is moshe cunto the president of the european jewish congress did obvious peter hill spoke to him and asked him how important is it that the german president as a representative of the country that perpetuated the holocaust is speaking at today's ceremony this was his reply. you know and it was exactly. the results are gathered here it's our mission to greet the platform for uniting. that was untrue and returning to michelle a coup for and a shiny resigned we heard what he said it's bringing us together it's uniting but from your perspective you as our chief political editor how important is it that stan meyer is present at the ceremony well i mean really it's an honor that germany couldn't have hoped for and it's also something that has been said by several leading politician including the german chancellor merkel what what luck germany really has to have been able to build this relationship with the state of israel i mean just imagine that the jewish state invites the german head of state as the 1st head of state to yad vashem that is quite something 75 years after the mass murder of their own people so it's at the very least a very historic moment but we can see that it goes deeper than the symbolism and it's so remarkable that we also see holocaust survivors willing to meet with the german president willing to engage so clearly germany has some credibility as a state that is serious about looking at this dark chapter of its past and keeping that memory alive which is so important particular also to the survivors and a powerful kind of symbol off reconciliation and shanny how will his presence there be perceived by israelis well you know it's always a very touchy very very emotional complexed topic i think what the general line similar to what mind set is that there's an adverse danding germany's an airline now that we needed as part of you know bringing out this wider message but of course there's also always him are always an emotional hardship when it comes to german when it comes to germany to come still so many people here in german language you know itself can be very emotional to people there were met me and i was growing up it was 2 quite quite prominent people who were boycotting all german products no german cars no german and tonics and so on this is today not no longer anything anyone would think about the start of such widespread but of course would be an older generation there's still a lot of resentment and lot of complex feelings when it comes to germany and its role there and having it included in this event. right i mean what we are looking at is live pictures coming from russia where i said i'm a nice idea to start shortly but as assemblies get underway it's also important to remember the disturbingly anti semitism has been on the rise worldwide in recent years in germany a study by the world jewish congress late last year found that more than one in 4 germans hold and to symmetric views and that anti semitic runs in germany rose by almost 20 percent in 2018 jewish people are getting increasingly concerned. communication designer valentino has been living in berlin for 8 years. he is from poland and he is jewish. one reason he chose to live here is the cultural diversity and the fact that he can easily find kosher food as if it's a very diverse commun