Merkel voices concern over rising racism in Germany

BERLIN

Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday warned of mounting racism in Germany and called for stronger efforts to defend values of liberal democracy, during her first-ever visit to the Auschwitz concentration camp in the Polish town of Oswiecim.

Merkel attended a ceremony alongside a camp survivor and Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki ahead of the 75th anniversary of the Nazi camp's liberation.

More than 1 million Jews were executed or died in the infamous concentration camp during the World War II.

"I am filled with deep shame in the face of the crimes that were committed here by Germany," she said, stressing the importance of remembering these crimes and acknowledging responsibility.

Merkel also warned against right-wing extremism and anti-Semitism.

"We are witnessing worrisome racism, growing intolerance, a wave of hate crimes,” she said.

"We are witnessing an attack on the basic values of liberal democracy and a dangerous historical revisionism,” she added.

Merkel's remarks come in the wake of an unprecedented wave of xenophobic, racial and Islamophobic attacks in Germany.