Commemorations held in Bergen-Bergen, Flossenbürg concentration camps

Commemorative events were held in the former Nazi concentration camps in Bergen-Belsen and Flossenbürg on Sunday to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the camps.

Politicians and contemporary witnesses recalled the atrocities.
Lower Saxony's Minister President Stephan Weil made an appeal for "Never again is now" at the event in the Lüneburg Heath.

Never again should the dignity and lives of people in Germany be trampled underfoot, never again should human rights be disregarded, never again should arbitrariness take the place of justice, said Weil. "That is the lesson to be learnt from the murder of so many millions of people, that is the mission of the commemoration and remembrance of these events."

The Bergen-Belsen concentration camp was liberated by the British army on April 15, 1945. Around 53,000 people were liberated, but for many, help came too late. Among them was Anne Frank, whose diary brought home to many the sufferings of the Jews in occupied Europe. She is buried in one of the mass graves at the camp.

In total, around 52,000 people died in the camp and immediately after liberation, in addition to almost 20,000 deaths in the neighbouring prisoner of war camp.

In his speech, Israeli Ambassador Ron Prosor addressed the survivors directly. "With your strength, with your courage and with your lives, you are a triumph over inhumanity. We are indebted to you, the survivors. And to the murdered."

Former German president Christian Wulff and President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Josef Schuster, were among the guests.