'Our responsibility will never end': Germany pledges €120 million to Auschwitz fund
@thelocalgermany
Auschwitzholocaustworld war ii
Maas visiting the former concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau in August 2018. Photo: DPA
Germany has doubled its share of a fund to preserve the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp to €120 million euros, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Tuesday.
The death camp, which is located in Poland, was where Nazi officials murdered 1.1 million people, a million of whom were European Jews, from 1940 to 1945.
Around 80,000 Poles, 25,000 Roma and 20,000 Soviet soldiers also perished there before the Red Army arrived in January 1945.
More than a decade ago, Poland sought contributions to establish a permanent fund to preserve the site.
Maas was quoted in a statement issued by the Auschwitz museum as saying that Germany would keep doing what "it has done for years within the context of its historical responsibility.
"We want to support this work and preserve the memory because German responsibility for the Holocaust will never end," he added.
#Poland and #Germany: Berlin donates 60,000,000 € for the conservation of #Auschwitz Memorial. Photo: @AuschwitzMuseum director Cywiński, German minister @HeikoMaas and German Amb. Rolf Nikel today in #Warsaw. #Holocaust #WW2 pic.twitter.com/hs8VJo4Iwk
— Gerhard Gnauck (@Gerhard_Gnauck) June 16, 2020
Each year, more than two million people visit the site, which covers more than 200 hectares (500 acres). In 2018, there were a record number of visitors to the memorial site.
In December, Angela Merkel visited the site for the first as Chancellor ahead of the 75th anniversary of the camp's liberation.
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