Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland joined European leaders at a commemoration ceremony on the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the only Nazi concentration camp that was located in France.
Located in the Vosges Mountains close to the Alsatian village of Natzwiller, the Struthof camp operated between May 1941 and September 1944. It was the only concentration camp established by the Nazis on present-day French territory, though there were French-run temporary camps such as the one at Drancy.
Mr Jagland met two Norwegian survivors - Tollef Larsson and Haakon Sorbye - and lay flowers at the concentration camp ash pit with two young descendants, aged 7 and 16 to mark the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the camp on Sunday, 26 April. Speaking with media on the margins of the ceremony, he said: "In the face of growing racism, our culture of commemoration in Europe is as important and necessary as ever. And we must do more to fight extremism and xenophobia, especially in schools and working with young people."
Invited by French President Francois Hollande, who paid tribute to the deportees, the Secretary General joined Latvian Prime Minister Straujuma, President of the European Council Donald Tusk and President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz at the commemoration on the French national day of deportation.
Some 52,000 people were held prisoner at the camp over its three years of operation. Inmates originated from various countries, including Poland, the Soviet Union, the Netherlands, France, Germany, modern day Slovenia and Norway.
Every day nearly 1,300 people visit the site, half of them schoolchildren.
