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Germany's Merkel begins her first ever visit to Auschwitz

(ANSA-AP) - OSWIECIM, 06 DEC - German Chancellor Angela Merkel entered the hallowed grounds of the former Nazi German death camp of Auschwitz on Friday as she began her first ever visit to the most notorious site of the atrocities that Adolf Hitler's regime inflicted on Europe. Merkel also brought a donation of 60 million euros ($66.6 million). The money will go to a fund to conserve the physical remnants of the site - the barracks, watchtowers and personal items like shoes and suitcases of those killed. Together, those objects endure as evidence of German atrocities and as one of the world's most recognizable symbols of humanity's capacity for evil. But they also are deteriorating under the strain of time and mass tourism, prompting a long-term conservation effort. Accompanied by Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, Merkel began by seeing a crematorium and walking under the gate with the notorious words "Arbeit Macht Frei." That was a cynical phrase that meant "work will set you free," when the truth was that inmates were subjected to either immediate execution, painful scientific experiments or forced labor. Merkel and Morawiecki went next to the site of executions, where they bowed their heads before two wreaths bearing their nations' colors. (ANSA-AP).