The first transport of Polish prisoners to the Auschwitz concentration camp took place on June 14, 1940.  The camp was still under construction at that time. The International Auschwitz Committee (IAK), an association of Auschwitz survivors, extended an invitation to attend a memorial service to solemnly mark the transport’s 80th anniversary.

Participants at the memorial service included a. Prof. Dr. Michael John (chairman of the Austrian Camp Community Auschwitz, JKU Linz), Mag. Dr. Herta Neiß, (board member of the Austrian Camp Community Auschwitz, IAK member, JKU Linz), as well as Mag. Hannah Lessing (Secretary General of the National Fund and IAK board member). Christine Danimann, daughter of resistance fighter and Auschwitz survivor Franz Danimann who passed away in 2013, took part in the remembrance service as a representative for the survivors and their families. The ceremonies remembered this first group of prisoners - across generations and across countries - who gave the world immeasurable insight into the mechanisms of hatred, racism and mass murder and warned against the danger of history repeating itself.