Merkel Visits Auschwitz for First Time
Published Date: 12/6/2019
Source: VOA News
German Chancellor Angela Merkel pays tribute to Holocaust victims at the "Death Wall" in the former German Nazi death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau in Oswiecim, Poland, Friday, December 6. Merkel is only the third chancellor ever to visit the Nazi German camp where 1 million Jews were killed between 1940 and 1945, and which has come to symbolize the Holocaust as a whole. Her trip, which comes ahead of the 75th anniversary of the camp's liberation by Soviet troops on January 27, is being seen as an important political message. On the eve of her visit, the 65-year-old Merkel said that "the fight against anti-Semitism and against all forms of hate" was a priority for her government. She also hailed a new $66-million donation for the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation that was approved by Germany's federal states on Thursday. (AFP)