Cuomo going to Poland for 75th anniversary of concentration camp's liberation

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo will attend the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Nazi concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland.

Cuomo will be joined by Empire State Development president and CEO Eric Gertler and secretary to the governor Melissa DeRosa on the trip where they will gather with leaders from around the world. They are to depart Sunday afternoon and will attend the official commemoration events on Monday.

The trip comes amid a rash of hate crimes in New York and across the country against those of the Jewish faith.

Last week Cuomo introduced a first-in-the-nation domestic terrorism law and legislation mandating that every student visit a museum that covers topics related to the Holocaust as part of an education curriculum on diversity and tolerance. Cuomo has also proposed expanding the Museum of Jewish Heritage — A Living Memorial to the Holocaust at Battery Park City.

“The cancer of hate and intolerance against the Jewish community and anyone perceived to be ‘different’ is repugnant — and while we pray, march and gather for solidarity, government has an obligation to actually act to put an end to this madness,” Cuomo said in a news release. “This trip will not only show our Jewish brothers and sisters that the family of New York stands with them, I hope it will also raise cultural awareness about the horrors that the Jewish community went through and how America responded.”