French president visits former concentration camp

French President Francois Hollande places a rose at a memorial near the grave of ashes during ceremonies to mark the French National Deportation Day, at the Natzweiler-Struthof World War II concentration camp, in Natzweiler, eastern France, April 26, 2015. [Photo/Agencies]

His comments took on special significance following recent anti-Semitic acts in Europe, such as the vandalism of over 300 Jewish graves in the Alsatian village of Sarre-Union, and shootings at a synagogue in Copenhagen, both in February.

His fellow leaders took the occasion to highlight the importance of continuing to commemorate the victims of the holocaust.

"In the face of growing racism in Europe our culture of commemorating the holocaust is as important and necessary as ever.

And we must do more to fight extremism and xenophobia, especially in schools and working with young people," declared Council of Europe Secretary General Jagland.

Referencing current crises in the Mediterranean and in Eastern Ukraine, as well as the fight against domestic terrorism, President Hollande argued for Europe to be worth of its own values.

"In the eyes of the world, Europe remains a land of promise," the President said.

Prior to his statements, he visited the camp's gas chamber, which had been installed in 1943 in order to perform experiments, though the camp's commemorative association indicates it was not used as systematically as in Nazi "extermination camps," such as Treblinka, Belzec, and Sobibor.

President Hollande is the first French head of state to have visited the camp's gas chamber.

Mainly designed as a labor camp, Natzweiler-Struthof was also used as a site for Nazi medical experiments.

Natzweiler-Struthof was the first concentration camp to have been discovered by the Allies in Western Europe. Approximately 52, 000 people were imprisoned at the camp during its three years of operation.