Gold Half Ounce 2015 Liberation of Auschwitz, Coin from Niue - detailed information

Niue, a sovereign state in free association with New Zealand, uses two official legal tender currencies. The New Zealand Dollar is the circulation currency for daily transactions, while the government also authorises legal tender coins in the Niue Dollar currency for collector's purposes.

A number of mints issue a large variety of commemorative and collector coins under the authority of Niue. These coins are dedicated to historical or general popular culture themes not related to Niue itself. Many of them are in standard bullion sizes - such as a half ounce of gold (abbreviated as 1/2 oz Au, where "Au" comes from the Latin word for gold, Aurum).

This coin, commemorating the Liberation of Auschwitz, was issued as part of a four-coin gold proof set by the Czech Mint.

The Mint says about it:
70 years ago, on 27 January 1945, one of the most horrifying chapters of WW2 was closed. On this day, the Soviet army liberated the largest Nazi concentration and extermination camp Oswiecim in Poland. Only 7,000 prisoners were saved. During the previous almost five years of the camp’s existence, more than one million people were executed here.

Together with the Czech Mint, designer Jakub Orava cooperated with the Terezín Initiative Institute which supports research of the history of the “final solution” in Bohemia and Moravia, and the history of the Terezín ghetto. Final version of the coin originated on the basis of talks with Dagmar Lieblová and Toman Brod, two survivors of the Oswiecim camp.

The reverse of the coin is dominated by the depiction of human figures stepping out of the notoriously known camp gate, with the ill known watchword Arbeit macht frei. “In my opinion the coin is also important, among other things, because to the two hundred people that will have it at home, it will remind eve after many years the horrible events and commemorate the victims. I have unfortunately, the impression, that people more and more forget what had happened 70 years ago“, said Anna Hyndráková, witness of the Terezín camp.