9 May 2005

MAUTHAUSEN — Spanish prime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero took part in a ceremony to honour Spanish republicans imprisoned at Mauthausen on the 60th anniversary of the Nazi concentration camp's liberation.

Zapatero praised the republicans' contributions to peace in Spain and vowed that the lessons of Mauthausen would not be forgotten.

The Spanish leader said this was an appropriate time to say 'Never again!' to intolerance, oppression and fanaticism.

"Never again to the totalitarian option, never again to the horror, never again to crime for the sake of crime, never again to the madness of war, never again to fascism, never again to Nazism," Zapatero said.

The ceremony at the site of the former Nazi concentration camp was one of many held on Sunday across Europe to mark the end of World War II on the continent 60 years ago.

The majority of Spanish republicans who fell into the hands of the Nazis were imprisoned at Mauthausen, and only about 2,000 of the 8,000 who entered the camp survived the war.

A group of survivors and their families attended the ceremony at the monument to republicans held at the camp, and many waved republican, Catalan and Basque flags.

After ending up on the losing side in Spain's 1936-1939 Civil War, many supporters of the short-lived Spanish Republic were forced into exile in Latin America, the former Soviet Union and countries in Europe that were later overrun by the Nazis.

After attending the ceremony for Spanish victims of the camp, Zapatero took part in the general ceremony marking the liberation of Mauthausen. Later, the prime minister toured the camp with some of the republicans who were held there.

[Copyright EFE with Expatica]

Subject: Spanish news