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German president calls for coexistence, warns not to forget history

Xinhua, January 27, 2015 Adjust font size:

German President Joachim Gauck on Tuesday warned not to forget Germany's Holocaust history and called for a continued coexistence of different cultures and religions in his country.

He made the remarks as Germany's Parliament convened in Berlin on Tuesday to pay tribute to the estimated 1.1 million people murdered at the Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II.

While delivering a keynote address in the Bundestag, Gauck noted that facing the Nazi crimes has become a key component of Germany's history narrative, which has made the country "a reliable partner for a peaceful and equitable coexistence of citizens and nations."

He urged parliamentarians and the public not to forget or lose interest in Germany's World War II history.

"There is no German identity without Auschwitz," the head of state stressed. "The memory of the Holocaust remains a matter for all citizens living in Germany. It belongs to the history of this country."

Gauck also called upon Germans to keep the coexistence of different cultures and religions in their country, saying "the community in which we'd like to live will only thrive where individuals' dignity is respected and where solidarity is lived."

Later on Tuesday, the president is expected to join other world leaders and hundreds of survivors for a commemorative ceremony at the site of the Auschwitz death camp in Poland. Enditem