Standing in front of the surviving prisoners of Auschwitz in the building of the Nazi death camps, where prisoners were stripped naked, disinfected and forced to wear uniforms, German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke of the “deep shame” that she felt as a German.

Merkel visited Auschwitz on Friday, her first visit to the infamous Nazi concentration camp in her 14 years as leader. The trip took place against the background of rising of anti-Semitism in Germany and was intended as a strong gesture in the fight with him.

“It is anything but easy to stand here before you and speak with you. I am filled with deep shame before the face of the barbaric crimes that were committed by the Germans. Crimes that are incomprehensible,” she said.

Merkel stressed that Auschwitz was a German death camp operated by the Germans, adding: “it is Important that we have clearly identified the culprits, we Germans owe it to the victims, and we owe it to ourselves.”

“We must never forget – we cannot draw a line and prevent the trivialization of the Holocaust,” she said, urging the people to resist the incitement to hatred and anti-Semitism.

“We must not close our eyes and ears. When people are abused, humiliated or isolated… we have to get up,” she said.

After passing the memorial, the Chancellor held a minute of silence at the so-called Black wall in the main camp of Auschwitz, where they were shot thousands of prisoners.

She also visited the death camp Birkenau, about a mile from the main Auschwitz camp, where she laid a wreath of flowers. During the visit she was accompanied by Prime Minister of Poland Mateusz Morawiecki and the President Andrzej Duda.

In the framework of his visit, Merkel will also officially announced that Germany will provide an additional 60 million euros ($67 million) in funding for the preservation of the memorial, saying that it would forever yongding responsibility to ensure the memory of the victims.

“Remembering the crimes … it’s a responsibility that never ends. It inseparably belongs to our country. To realize this responsibility is part of our national identity,” she said.

Auschwitz survivor Bogdan Stanislav shared his memories of the arrival in camp of death of 12-year-old boy with Merkel and other guests attended the event.

“In January 1945 we were taken to the station – I was in a hurry to the bath, holding sue and hands. We asked when will be free?”, he said. “Older prisoners will laugh at us and said,” You can see the chimneys? There’s no other way”.

Related: CNN poll shows the depth of anti-Semitism in Europe

Merkel is only the third German Chancellor to visit the death camp, which operated in Nazi-occupied Poland. Helmut Schmidt was the first in 1977, and then Helmut Kohl in 1989 and 1995.

The memorial is also visited in the past several presidents of Germany, which serve as ceremonial heads of state.

Stephanie Scheller, Springorum, head of the Center for research on anti-Semitism at the technical University of Berlin, said the German leader’s visit to Auschwitz is still a “very significant event”.

“This statement,” she said. “Angela Merkel is very aware of what she was doing, her last years in office, and it’s important for her to go.”

Marie-Sophie ADEOS from the educational center Anne Frank in Frankfurt added that Merkel’s visit is very necessary. “I find it amazing that for almost 25 years, none of the German Chancellor did not visit Auschwitz,” she said.

“It’s something that needs to be done … the real anti-Semitism in Germany at the present time, and it’s important to continue to remind us of the historical legacy that we as Germans are “.

Despite the fact that this will be her first visit to Auschwitz, Merkel visited some of the memorial monuments of the Holocaust in the past, including the center of the Holocaust memorial “Yad Vashem” in Jerusalem.

“It is always a question about where you go when you want to do this kind of symbolic memory and Angela Merkel went several times (K) Yad Vashem, to do this, which is probably one of the reasons I think why she was not even at Auschwitz,” said Magnus Brechtken, Deputy Director of the Institute for contemporary history of Leibniz.

Merkel made several visits to Israel, and in 2014 received the highest civilian award of the country for “combating anti-Semitism and racism in particular through education”.

In 2009, she accompanied President Barack Obama and Nobel peace prize laureate and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel on the site of the Nazi concentration camp Buchenwald near Weimar, Central Germany.

In 2013, she was criticized after a visit to Dachau concentration camp during the election campaign.

Earlier this year, the German Jews were warned by a leading government official not wearing traditional kippahs in public places due to security concerns following the growth of anti-Semitic attacks.

In October an armed man in Galle killed two people while trying to storm the synagogue on Yom kippure, the most Holy day in the Jewish calendar.

“After the attempted mass murder of Jews in Halle, everything should be done that emphasizes the commitment of the German authorities to combat anti-Semitism practically and symbolically, where they can,” wolf Kaiser, a historian and member of the German delegation to the international Alliance in memory of the Holocaust, told CNN in an email.

A survey conducted by the European Agency for fundamental rights earlier this year showed that 89% of respondents in Germany, the Jews believe that anti-Semitism is growing.

“We pay special attention to anti-Semitism. Which poses a threat to the Jews in Germany, Europe and beyond”, she added.

Paul Sawicki, a spokesman of the Auschwitz Memorial, said the Museum does not invite government leaders to visit this place. This applies to major events such as the 75th anniversary of the camp’s liberation in January 2020.

“The Museum … didn’t invite any politicians,” said Sawicki, adding that the memorial had informed the EU and other countries that donate to the memorial, the anniversary event will take place.

“If they want to participate, we are waiting for information about their own state delegations.” Sawicki added that he can remember that the Museum refused an official visit.

According to Sawicki, the invitation of Merkel received from the Fund for Auschwitz-Birkenau, which manages the endowment Fund for the preservation of the memorial and celebrates its 10th anniversary. Germany is the largest donor to the Fund.

Germany has witnessed a series of electoral successes of the far-right AfD party, whose leaders in the past have questioned the emphasis Germany on Holocaust remembrance.

In recent elections in the East German state of Thuringia, the AfD doubled its share of votes. The party is headed by a politician björn Hyuk, who has previously called the Holocaust memorial in Berlin “monument of shame”.

Brechtken said that the motivation of such statements is clear. “There’s a huge amount of knowledge, research, and public memory, and There are certain groups represented in AfD, who want to get rid of it.

“I would say that most people understand that a society that was self-critical in how he deals with his past, also more able to solve problems and to be more vigilant if there are threats and challenges … these challenges from populist movements to anti-Semitic movements, extremist movements,” he said.

“Why Merkel is going, she represents the majority.”

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