Warsaw - Some 200 youths from more than 20 nations visited the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz on Tuesday as part of an event marking the 25th anniversary of Lech Walesa receiving the Nobel Peace Prize.

"For us Russians this is important, because we suffered because of Soviet totalitarianism," Julia Malyszowa of Moscow told the Polish Press Agency. "We must now know as much as possible about history. For Russians it's essential, to fight today for democracy."

The "Solidarity Express" takes young people to important historical sites on its way to celebrations in Gdansk that will include a conference of European leaders.

The trip departed from Krakow and will finish in Gdansk on Friday with a meeting between young people and Nobel Peace Prize laureates.

Walesa received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983 for his leadership in strikes by the Solidarity trade union, which helped peacefully topple the communist regime in Poland.

The anniversary celebrations of his Nobel Peace Prize will include French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, and Nobel Peace Prize laureates like South Africa's FW de Klerk and Israel's Shimon Peres.

Sarkozy's slated meeting with the Dalai Lama caused controversy when Beijing canceled a planned EU-China summit in Lyon, France, and cited the meeting as the reason. (dpa)