In all, 56 survivors gathered under a huge tent on Monday set up over a gate and railway tracks at the site of the former camp.

Vladimir Putin, the leader of Russia, in his statement on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, wrote that "Russian citizens are direct descendants and successors of the generation of victors.

Auschwitz survivors warned Monday of the rising antisemitism and hatred they are witnessing in the modern world as they gathered with world leaders and European royalty.