Should We Thank the Russians for the Liberation of Auschwitz?
Or perhaps:
“Of course, the Russians are committing terrible atrocities in Ukraine today, but they liberated the prisoners of Auschwitz in 1945. We should be grateful to them for that.”
What you just read was a common sentiment in many conversations on January 27, 2025, the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Even if it wasn’t spoken aloud, it surely existed in the minds of countless people in the West who genuinely believe it.
This narrative is the result of ignorance and Soviet-Russian propaganda, which continues to persist. It is not only incorrect but also an insult to those who actually liberated Auschwitz and to the victims of the Holocaust, whose memory deserves historical accuracy.
Who Really Liberated Auschwitz?
On January 27, 1945, the gates of the concentration camp were opened by soldiers of the 100th Lviv Rifle Division of the 60th Army of the 1st Ukrainian Front of the Red Army. This front was multinational, as was the entire Red Army—it was not simply “Russian.”
The first soldiers to enter the camp were from a battalion commanded by Anatoliy Shapiro, a Ukrainian Jew from Poltava. It was he and his troops who opened the gates of hell, rescuing those who were still alive. Shapiro, who was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine in 2006, later recalled: “This was not just a camp. This was a place where humanity ceased to exist.”
The liberation of Auschwitz was part of a large-scale offensive by the Red Army, involving soldiers from various Soviet republics—Ukrainians, Belarusians, Jews, Georgians, Russians, and others. But today, we see how Russia, manipulating Soviet history, consistently claims this achievement as exclusively their own, reducing it to “the Russians liberated Auschwitz.” Unfortunately, this narrative finds support in the West.
Where Is Ukraine in This Story?
At the same time, Ukraine, which possesses not only historical truth but also undeniable facts, is practically absent from this discussion. The Ministry of Culture, responsible for Ukraine’s information policy, has done little to challenge these propaganda myths.
Russia systematically uses history as a tool of propaganda. For years, it has convinced the world of its exceptional role, appropriating the achievements of the multinational Red Army and the contributions of various Soviet republics. Meanwhile, Ukraine, armed with real historical facts, fails to properly communicate the truth to the international community.
Why don’t we use historical moments like this to tell the world that Ukrainians made up a significant part of the 1st Ukrainian Front? Why don’t we highlight Anatoliy Shapiro, the man who first opened the gates of Auschwitz? Why do we allow Russia to monopolize a history that belongs to many nations?
Why Does This Matter?
Today, as Russia commits new crimes against humanity on Ukrainian soil, discussing its “heroic past” as a reason for gratitude is not just cynical—it is an attempt to justify an aggressor that seeks to build a new empire using old propaganda clichés.
The memory of the Holocaust and the liberation of Auschwitz is not a political tool. It is a warning about what happens when totalitarianism, chauvinism, and contempt for human rights go unchecked. The only way to honor this memory is to uphold historical truth: Auschwitz was not liberated by “the Russians” but by multinational Red Army soldiers, with Ukrainians playing a key role.
And it is Ukraine that must tell this story to the world—to restore historical justice.
