Merkel: Stay vigilant to anti-Semitism and racism

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is asking for vigilance amid a resurgence of racism and anti-Semitism across the world, calling it "our everlasting responsibility for today's and future generations."

Merkel made the comments Wednesday during a virtual ceremony marking the 76th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.

The coronavirus pandemic means that International Holocaust Remembrance Day events have moved online for the first time, but what remained unchanged was the drive of survivors to deliver the message of "Never again."

The online nature of this year's commemorations is a sharp contrast to events marking the 75th anniversary of Auschwitz's liberation last year, when some 200 survivors and dozens of European leaders and royalty gathered at the site of the former camp. It was one of the last large international gatherings before the pandemic forced the cancellation of most large gatherings.

On Wednesday, Merkel thanked survivors for their strength in telling their stories and rejected any attempt at diminishing history.

"We must stand with the utmost determination against anti-Semitism, be it open or veiled, and against denial or diminishing of the Holocaust," she said.

"We must be constantly vigilant to ensure that we see no ground to anti-Semitism and racism. We honor the victims of the Holocaust by remembering them and by learning from their plight," she added.

More than 1.1 million people were murdered by the German Nazis and their henchmen at Auschwitz, the most notorious in a network of killing sites set up across occupied Europe. The vast majority of those killed at Auschwitz were Jews, but others, including Poles, Roma, homosexuals and Soviet prisoners of war, were also murdered.

In all, about 6 million European Jews and millions of other people were killed by the Germans and their collaborators.