Speaking during a visit to Hamburg ahead of tomorrow’s 81st anniversary of the liberation from Nazi terror and the end of the Second World War, Dr Eva Umlauf, an Auschwitz survivor and President of the International Auschwitz Committee, stressed:

‘It is becoming increasingly difficult for me to find the words to mark tomorrow’s 81st anniversary of the liberation from Nazi terror and the end of the Second World War. The more time passes, the more forgetful many people seem to become. Once again, too many are being lured by the propaganda and ideology that once plunged Germany and Europe into ruin and produced monstrous murderers and criminals such as Hitler, Mengele and Goebbels. This is reflected in election results and forecasts. The drumbeat of the ideologues is loud and clear, and when I think of this, I am outraged and filled with concern, especially on this day.’

And in Berlin, Christoph Heubner, the committee’s Executive Vice-President, added:

‘The commemoration of 8 May is a call to protect democracies in Europe and to resist and reject any ideology of anti-Semitism, hatred and ignorance.’