Mr Putin called on the international community to remember the cruel lessons of the past and join forces to fight modern threats such as anti-Semitism, nationalism and terrorism. The world must make every effort to ensure that the holocaust never happens again.
Mr Putin admitted he is ashamed that there are manifestations of anti-Semitism in Russia. No one has the right to remain indifferent to anti-Semitism, xenophobia and racial intolerance. The President promised that Russia will always fight such manifestations with the force of the law and through public opinion.
Mr Putin also called for countries to join forces in fighting terrorism, saying that modern civilisation finds itself today facing new threats no less terrible than was Fascism. Only by rejecting a policy of double standards will it be possible to vanquish the terrorists, the President said.
Mr Putin especially highlighted the part Soviet troops played in liberating Auschwitz. Soviet forces extinguished the furnaces of Auschwitz and other concentration camps forever and freed Krakow. Here, 600,000 Soviet soldiers gave their lives, the President said.