Addressing the surviving victims of the Holocaust, she added: “I bow my head before the victims of the Shoah”.

The Chancellor also touched on the growth of anti-Semitic crimes and other hate in Germany in recent years, stating that they had reached “alarming levels”.

“To fight anti-Semitism need to share the story of the death camps, it is necessary to speak,” she said.

The trip, timed to the 75th anniversary of camp’s liberation by Soviet troops on 27 January, is seen as an important political message.

On the eve of his visit, the 65-year-old Merkel said that “the fight against anti-Semitism and all forms of hatred” is a priority for her government.

She also welcomed the new donation in the amount of 60 million euros (66 million dollars) to Fund Auschwitz-Birkenau, which was approved by the Federal States of Germany on Thursday.

Merkel began her visit with a walk under the Nazi slogan “Arbeit macht frei” (Work will free you), which still hangs above the gates of the camp.

During Merkel’s visit was accompanied by the survivors in the camp 87-year-old Bogdan Stanislaw Bartnikowski and the Prime Minister of Poland Mateusz Morawiecki.

The visit was also attended by the head of the Central Council of Jews in Germany Josef Schuster, the head of the world Jewish Congress Ronald Lauder.

In total in Auschwitz-Birkenau were killed 1.1 million people, including Jews, non-Jewish poles, Soviet POWs, Gypsies and fighters antiraciste.

Many of them were killed on the same day when they arrived in camp.

“There is no other place of memory that so accurately shows what happened during the Holocaust,” said Schuster in an interview with AFP ahead of the visit.

Merkel follows in the footsteps of previous German chancellors Helmut Schmidt, who came in 1977, and Helmut Kohl, who visited the country in 1989 and 1995.

In 2008, she became the first German leader, speaking in the Israeli Parliament. In this speech she talked about “shame”, which is still experienced by the Germans.

Merkel called the Holocaust a “break with civilization” and expressed concern about the growth of anti-Semitism in Germany.

Her visit took place two months after the attack on the synagogue in the Eastern city of Halle, in which were killed two people, which is part of a growing trend.

According to police, the number of anti-Semitic crimes in Germany last year grew by almost 10 percent compared to the previous year and amounted to 1646, which is the highest figure for the last decade.

German far-right AfD party, some of whose members have been accused of using anti-Semitic rhetoric, called to rethink how Germany remembers its Nazi past.

Senior Deputy AfD Bjorn hook called for a “180 degree shift” in the culture of redemption.

The timing of the visit is also significant because of questions about the political future of Merkel as tensions in the ruling coalition is maintained.

German media reported that she wanted to make the trip in anticipation of any potential political crisis.

Merkel plans to resign at the end of his mandate in 2021, but there is a chance that this date may be extended, if her Junior coalition partners, the social Democrats, will withdraw from the government.

AP contributed to this report