Jews, Poles Mark Auschwitz's Liberation

The 50th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland was marked by two days of observances which drew survivors of the Nazi death machine as well as world dignitaries. Elie Wiesel, an Auschwitz survivor and Nobel Peace Prize winner, was President Clinton's official representative to the ceremonies.

Auschwitz, which has become a central memorial of the Nazi Holocaust, was overrun by the Soviet Red Army on January 27, 1945. An estimated 1.5 million people--90 percent of them Jews--died at Auschwitz and its sister camp at Birkenau, 35 miles away.

After they were unable to resolve differences over the commemoration, Jewish organizations and the …