Home  >  What in the World  >  Auschwitz: How Holocaust survivors are preserving history
What in the World
Auschwitz: How Holocaust survivors are preserving history
What in the World
Jan 27, 2025

2025 marks 80 years since the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp. It was at the centre of the Nazi campaign to eradicate Europe's Jewish population, and almost one million of those who died there were Jews - but Poles, Roma and Russian prisoners of war, among many others, also perished at the camp.

Memorials, historical documentation and testimony from survivors help preserve this troubled history. But disinformation and cultural amnesia mean many people deny that the Holocaust happened.

We hear from BBC presenter Jordan Dunbar, who visited the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp in Poland for a BBC documentary. He has been speaking to survivors of the Holocaust. He tells us about how this disinformation is spreading online, and what’s being done to preserve accurate accounts of history.

Plus, we also hear from Andy Pearce, an associate professor and historian at University College London’s Centre for Holocaust Education, about how to approach conversations where Holocaust misinformation or denial is present.

Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: [email protected] WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Producers: William Lee Adams, Benita Barden and Emilia Jansson Editor: Verity Wilde

More Episodes
Feb 5, 2025
USAID: Can the world live without it?

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is under fire. It is the world’s biggest donor and spends billions of dollars a year, funding programmes around the world, like fighting malaria in Bangladesh, clearing unexploded landmines in Cambodia and Laos and providing medical supplies in Sudan.

But President Trump says it is run by “radical lunatics” and he and billionaire Elon Musk, who’s got the job of trying to slash American government spending, want to shut it down. They have paused almost all international spending for 90 days and issued “stop work” orders to their staff. BBC journalist Nathalia Jimenez tells us what USAID does - and why the Trump administration wants to close it.

A large proportion of USAID funding goes towards healthcare and HIV medication in sub-Saharan Africa. Makuochi Okafor, the BBC’s Africa Health correspondent tells us what impact closing USAID could have in this region.

Anselm Gibbs, a BBC reporter based in Trinidad and Tobago, tells us about programmes USAID funds in the Caribbean. And Hilde Deman from Search for Common Ground, an international NGO that uses USAID funding in countries affected by violent conflict, talks about the impact to their work in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: [email protected] WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: William Lee Adams Producers: Benita Barden and Julia Ross-Roy Editor: Rosanna La Falce


13min 08sec




Auschwitz: How Holocaust survivors are preserving history

--:--
--:--