The anniversary of the Auschwitz liberation is observed also as International Holocaust Remembrance Day since it was declared by the UN General Assembly in 2005.

Auschwitz, where an estimated 1.1 million people, mostly Jews, died, was liberated on 27 January by the Red Army.

Incomplete data from the Slovenian WWII Veterans' Association shows that 2,342 Slovenians were deported to Auschwitz, of which 1,331 died there.

The single biggest group of Slovenians - 333 women and 118 men - arrived at Auschwitz on 10 August 1942 from the city of Celje.

Some 30 Slovenian Auschwitz survivors are still alive, all of whom are women, according to the same source.

An estimated 63,000 Slovenians were deported to various concentration camps between 1941 and 1945, of which 12,000 perished.

On Saturday, the Slovenian WWII Veterans' Association and Amnesty International Slovenija organised a ceremony to mark Holocaust Day.

AI Slovenija head Nataša Posel stressed in her address that by keeping silent and not taking action, one assumes part of the responsibility for such atrocities.