The 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz prompted newspapers around the world to reflect on the Holocaust this week. The liberation was commemorated at the United Nations and at the camp itself, which, as the Independent put it, "has come to have a special meaning in the Holocaust, accounting for up to 1 million of the 6 million Jews who died as victims of the world´s most horrendous genocide".

In Germany, the weekly Die Zeit identified "only one rule" for anyone trying to come to terms with Auschwitz: "When you are not disturbed in the depths of your soul every time you hear about it ... then there is something wrong." Die Welt exhorted readers to mark the anniversary with "sorrow and humility". While "no exoneration can be sought in the past or the future," said the daily, the German people could show their dignity by "standing up for human rights wherever they are violated, for the rule of law and for freedom, wherever they are repressed".

On Monday the UN secretary-general, Kofi Annan, "broke with decades of disgraceful UN silence, enforced by anti-semitic Arab states, about the murder of the Jews", said the Los Angeles Times. In stating that "the UN must never forget that ... the horror of the Holocaust helped to shape its mission", Mr Annan had spoken "true and overdue" words.

The UN commemoration was achieved thanks to the support of some formerly unwilling Arab states, noted the German daily Der Tagesspiegel. And yet, it was dismayed to note, "the general assembly hall was half-empty during the ceremony." For the New York Post, that "disgusting boycott" was "a pointed reminder that the sentiments of generations gone have not yet receded". (Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004 01/28/05)