Passions flared in the European parliament yesterday over the use of the word "German" in condemning those responsible for 1.5 million deaths at Auschwitz.

After Polish objections at the omission of "German" a compromise was reached after a German deputy stepped in. An amendment by the Polish rightwing MEP, Michal Tomasz Kaminski, to a draft resolution called for Auschwitz to be referred to as a "German Nazi death camp" instead of a "Hitler Nazi death camp".

The amendment was dropped as it would have deleted a reference to homosexuals as Auschwitz victims. But the German Socialist group leader, Martin Schulz, said Auschwitz should be referred to as "Nazi Germany´s death camp". (Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004 01/28/05)