German troops attend March of the Living

Thousands of youths marched on Tuesday from the Auschwitz Nazi death camp to the Birkenau death camp in Poland as part of March of the Living. For the first time in the march's history, German soldiers also took part in the event.

A group of 20 cadets from Germany's officers' training school recently approached the march's organizers and asked to attend. "They said that they had heard about the project and that it was very important for them to participate," said March of the Living Chairman Dr. Shmuel Rozenman.

"It's very symbolic that the third generation in Germany is attending – they seek to become living testimony for what happened here," he explained. Rozenman added that this was especially important because "we know that anyone who comes here leaves with very strong emotions and becomes part of that global force that is fighting against Holocaust deniers."

Minister Shalom with youths in Auschwitz (Photo: AFP)

The soldiers marched without uniforms or any other military insignia. About 100 of the total 7,000 participants were German, and Rozenman said that the more non-Jewish German youth attended the march, the better.

Minister Shalom compares Iran to Nazi Germany

This year's march was also the first in which Jews were not the majority: About 4,000 of the participants were non-Jews from across the world. "The Holocaust is a stain on our history," several teens from Geneva told Ynet on Monday, and vowed to fight against racism.

Tuesday's march was led by Israeli Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Regional Development Silvan Shalom and former chief rabbi and Holocaust survivor, Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau.

While he was visiting Auschwitz earlier on Tuesday, Minister Shalom said that Iran under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's regime resembles Hitler-led Germany.