“Today, 60 years after, a new commitment must be made so that men unite at least to fight against hatred of the other, against anti-Semitism, against racism, against intolerance,” the former French health minister said at the anniversary ceremony at the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp in southern Poland.

Testifying on behalf of the former Jewish inmates, she noted that “European countries which twice dragged the whole world into murderous folly, have managed to overcome their old demons.”

“It’s here, where absolute evil was perpetrated, that the will must resurface for a fraternal world, a world based on respect of man and his dignity.”

“The wish we all have so often expressed for ‘never again’ has not been heeded since other genocides have been perpetrated,” Veil said.

Veil called for vigilance to defend “not only against the forces threatening nature but even more so against the folly of men.”

“We, the last survivors, have the right and even the duty to warn you and to urge you to ensure that the ‘never again’ of our comrades become reality.”

Earlier the former French minister, overcome with emotion, spoke of the “million murdered Jewish children”.

“I still weep when I think about them and I will never be able to forget them,” she added.