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Pope Francis Offers Silent Prayer at Auschwitz

Pope Francis visits the Auschwitz death camp site in Poland to pay tribute to 1.5 million people, gassed there by Nazi occupiers during World War II.
Image: Pope Francis walks through Auschwitz's notorious gate during his visit to the former Nazi death camp
Pope Francis walks through Auschwitz's notorious gate with the sign "Arbeit Macht Frei" (Work Sets You Free) during his visit to the former Nazi death camp in Poland, July 29, 2016.Filippo Monteforte / Pool via Reuters
/ Source: Reuters

Hunched on a bench near the gate to the Auschwitz death camp site in Poland, Pope Francis prayed silently on Friday in tribute to 1.5 million people, most of them Jews, gassed there by Nazi occupiers during World War II.

Marking the third day of his trip to Poland for an international gathering of Catholic youth, Francis spent a few minutes speaking quietly and exchanging gifts with about 12 Auschwitz survivors, including a 101-year-old woman.

One of the male survivors gave the pope a picture of himself surrounded by other inmates in a bunk, and asked Francis to sign it. The somber-looking pope kissed each survivor.

Image: Pope Francis visits former Nazi German concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz-Birkenau in Oswiecim
Pope Francis meets Nazi concentration camp survivors at Auschwitz-Birkenau in Oswiecim, Poland, on July 29.DAVID W CERNY / Reuters

The Argentine-born pontiff, 79, made no statement as he proceeded to walk through the barely-lit corridors of the drab, brick building of Auschwitz Block 11 which had housed prisoners selected for special punishment.

With aides using small flashlights to light his way, Francis visited the underground cell where Franciscan monk Maksymilian Kolbe was killed after offering his life to save a Polish man whom camp handlers had picked to die of starvation.

Image: Pope Francis arrives to visit Auschwitz's former Nazi death camp
Pope Francis visits Auschwitz.Osservatore Romano via Reuters

German occupation forces set up the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp during World War Two in Oswiecim, a town around 43 miles from Poland's second city, Krakow, in the country's south.

Between 1940 and 1945 Auschwitz developed into a vast complex of barracks, workshops, gas chambers and crematoria.

In Auschwitz's commemorative book, Francis wrote in Spanish: "Lord, have mercy on your people. Lord, forgiveness for so much cruelty."

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