Brown promises Auschwitz support

The camps were a testament to the human spirit, Mr Brown said

Auschwitz is a testament to past evils but also to the enduring human spirit, Gordon Brown has said during a visit to the former concentration camp.

The prime minister said the camp, in what was Nazi-occupied Poland, served as a reminder that future acts of inhumanity must be prevented.

After meeting Polish counterpart Donald Tusk, Mr Brown pledged support to help maintain the site as a memorial.

He also praised Poland for sending more troops to Afghanistan.

'Place of darkness'

Mr Brown paid his respects to the more than a million people killed at Auschwitz and the nearby camp at Birkenau - 90% of whom were Jews - during a private tour with his wife Sarah.

He said the UK government would do all it could to assist school visits to Auschwitz, saying it was important children were aware of the horrors of the past.

What we have seen this afternoon is a harrowing testament to the murder of so many who suffered the extremes of terror Gordon Brown, in a written note in the visitors' book at Auschwitz

He also pledged support to maintain Auschwitz as a permanent memorial amid concerns the site is in a state of decay and funding for its museum is under threat.

Poland is seeking international assistance for a 120m euro foundation to preserve Auschwitz.

In an entry in the visitors' book at Auschwitz, Mr Brown wrote that it was "a place of darkness".

"What we have seen this afternoon is a harrowing testament to the murder of so many who suffered the extremes of terror.

"What has happened here is a shared human story, a perpetual reminder of all the darkness of which the world is capable but also a story of what the world can endure and survive."

In an earlier interview with Polish television, Mr Brown said the Polish people "suffered greatest and worst as a result of the persecution of the Jewish people in Poland".

Troop commitment

After meeting Mr Tusk, Mr Brown said he had discussed a range of issues with including Afghanistan, the global economy and proposals for nuclear disarmament.

I am pleased to welcome Poland's decision to send an additional 400 troops to Afghanistan Gordon Brown Brown visits troops in Afghanistan Brown urges stronger Pakistan links

He welcomed Poland's decision to send an extra 400 troops to Afghanistan - adding to its existing 1600 personnel there - as a "vital" step in supporting Afghan democracy.

Mr Brown, who visited Afghanistan on Monday, has indicated that the UK is prepared to send more troops of its own ahead of presidential elections in August.

The PM also called for more financial assistance from the World Bank and other international bodies to support troubled banks in central and eastern Europe.

Speaking about Poland's reaction to the global financial crisis, Mr Tusk said it had behaved responsibly, its bank supervision had been effective and it had not lived beyond its means.

"The Polish government behaved with full responsibility in terms of public funds and the budget deficit," he said.

The Conservatives said Mr Tusk's comments were a rebuke to Mr Brown, given the scale of public borrowing announced by the chancellor in last week's Budget.

But speaking in the Commons, Alistair Darling said no two countries had been affected in the same way by the crisis and the issue was what action governments were prepared to take in response.

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