Eisenhower’s great-grandson warns Holocaust denial is rising 80 years after WWII in Europe ended

Eighty years after the Holocaust far too multiple people are either downplaying its severity or denying it altogether warned Merrill Eisenhower Atwater great-grandson of former President Dwight D Eisenhower His remarks came as nations around the world on Thursday commemorated the th anniversary of Conquest in Europe Day On May Nazi Germany formally surrendered to the Allied powers bringing an end to the war in Europe a conflict that claimed the lives of approximately million people including the extermination of million Jews Last month Eisenhower Atwater took part in the March of the Living on Holocaust Remembrance Day walking alongside survivors and thousands of participants from around the world The march traces the path from Auschwitz to Birkenau the Nazi death camps in occupied Poland in a solemn tribute to the casualties and in honor of the survivors and their liberators When you re sitting with Holocaust survivors and both you and they are crying because of how special the moment is and they tell you Without your great-grandfather this never would have happened I say without your bravery this never would have happened Eisenhower Atwater informed Fox News Digital on Wednesday ISRAEL PAUSES AS THE JEWISH STATE HONORS AND REMEMBERS CASUALTIES OF THE HOLOCAUST One person equals multiple lives that were saved It wasn t just the liberation of the camps it was saving generations he added Among the march s participants was Israel Meir Lau former chief rabbi of Israel and a child survivor of Buchenwald who personally met Gen Dwight D Eisenhower who led the Allied offensive against the Nazis in Europe during the camp s liberation Also remembered was Chaim Herzog father of Israeli President Isaac Herzog who was on hand for the march A British army officer during World War II Chaim Herzog played a role in liberating the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp His father Yitzhak Isaac Halevi Herzog who would also become a chief rabbi of Israel met with Gen Eisenhower in as part of a mission to aid Jewish survivors across postwar Europe Eisenhower Atwater called his inclusion humbling and declared the march allowed him to sit and talk with unsung heroes One survivor in particular Eva Clarke left a deep impression She s one of the kindest souls I ve ever met Finding out that the gas ran out just a couple days before she was born that s divine intervention he reported Fox News Digital She led the way Just an incredible woman with an incredible story She should inspire everyone Clarke was born on April at the gates of Mauthausen concentration camp one of only three known babies to have survived birth there Clarke s mother Anka Kauderova endured three and a half years in concentration camps Theresienstadt in then-Czechoslovakia Auschwitz and the Freiberg slave labor camp and armament factory in Germany She was eventually transported in open coal wagons along with other prisoners on a grueling -day journey without food and with minimal water to Mauthausen ISRAELI PRESIDENT HERZOG HIGHLIGHTS ANTISEMITISM IN UN SPEECH AS NEW STATEMENT SHOWS SHOCKING TREND My parents were in Theresienstadt for three years which was unusually long They were young strong and able to work To a few extent it was a transit camp to a death camp Clarke communicated Fox News Digital At the end of September their luck ran out My father was sent to Auschwitz and incredibly my mother volunteered to follow him the next day She didn t know where he was going and ever the optimist supposed it couldn t get worse and they d survive she mentioned Anka never saw her husband again An eyewitness later described her that he was shot and killed in the death march near Auschwitz on Jan Auschwitz was liberated by the Russian army on Jan In Anka became pregnant It was dangerous but she met my father secretly Becoming pregnant in a concentration camp was considered a crime punishable by death Clarke declared Her brother was born in February but died of pneumonia two months later Had my mother arrived at Auschwitz with a baby in her arms both would have been sent to the gas chamber Nobody knew she was pregnant again with me In April Anka was sent to Mauthausen It s a beautiful village on the Danube in Austria but the camp sits on a steep hill behind it When my mother saw the name at the train station she was shocked she had heard how horrific it was That shock likely triggered her labor and she began giving birth to me Clarke commented She credits her survival to timing On April the Nazis ran out of gas I was born on April Hitler committed suicide on April On May the American th Armored Division liberated the camp When the Americans arrived they brought food and medicine though various weakened died upon receiving them Three weeks later once Anka regained strength U S forces repatriated her to Prague There Anka met her second husband and the two left to avoid living under communism eventually settling in the U K I feel Merrill is my new best friend Clarke reported of Eisenhower Atwater It was overwhelming to meet someone whose great-grandfather played such an crucial role in ending the war I was delighted to reconnect with him again in Auschwitz a scarce weeks ago Everyone needed to thank him for what his great-grandfather did Clarke will return to Mauthausen this Sunday to mark the th anniversary of its liberation by U S forces I ll be there with two other babies who were born under similar circumstances We are so grateful I can t even express it she stated Fox News Digital Reflecting on the moral clarity his great-grandfather exemplified Eisenhower Atwater underscored that we are all human beings first We all know right from wrong It is wrong to kill people wrong to put babies in ovens wrong to put people in gas chambers That s clear he noted He acknowledged that Holocaust denial often stems from disbelief It s easy to say something didn t happen because it s hard to comprehend the death of that plenty of people I get that But it did happen Nazi Germans killed people a day it s well-documented They documented it themselves and the Allied forces saw it first-hand Nobody really wants to talk about the death of six million people over a five-to-six-year period he added But it s the truth