German Chancellor Angela Merkel condemned anti-Semitism during a ceremony to mark 70 years since the liberation of the Dachau Nazi concentration camp.
“We are all forever called upon, to never close our eyes and ears to those who today accost, threaten and attack people when they identify themselves somehow as Jews or also when they side with the state of Israel,” Merkel said at the ceremony, in presence of Holocaust survivors.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel joined survivors of the former Nazi concentration camp at Dachau on Sunday for a solemn ceremony to mark 70 years since it was liberated by US forces.
After laying a wreath with a former French deportee, the Chancellor thanked ageing survivors of the death camp who had travelled to Dachau, northwest of Munich, for sharing their life stories, saying she was “greatly moved” so many had made the journey.
American army trucks rolled into Dachau, northwest of Munich, on April 29, 1945 to discover the unspeakable horror that had led to more than 41,000 people being killed, having starved or died of disease.
Josef Schuster, president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, said Merkel's presence together with survivors was a "sign of solidarity".
He urged the younger generation to uphold the "responsibility" of never forgetting.
In 2013 Merkel became the first German chancellor to go to the former Dachau camp but faced criticism for making the visit during the campaign for the 2013 general election ahead of a beer-tent rally for supporters.