The German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder will on Tuesday lead a major commemoration ceremony in Berlin as the German capital marks the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp. Mr. Schroeder will give a speech at a ceremony to be attended by survivors from the camp in southern Poland, students and the chairman of the World Jewish Congress, Israel Singer. The commemorations in Germany have been overshadowed by a far-right political party's decision to refuse to observe a minute's silence in a regional parliament for the victims of the Nazis.
National Democratic Party (NPD) representatives in the eastern state of Saxony created a furore on Friday when they walked out of the assembly in Dresden while members of other parties stayed to pay tribute. Referring to the incident on Monday, Mr. Schroeder said "It is extremely important to fight these people politically, and clearly demonstrate the dangers they pose for peace here and Germany's image abroad, It is the clear duty of every democrat."
