(Photo: VCG)

BERLIN, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- The German Bundestag (lower house of parliament) held a special session on Thursday to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust, with survivors warning against the resurgence of nationalism.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Frank-Walter Steinmeier were among those present on Thursday morning. The Bundestag traditionally marks International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Jan. 27, the day when Auschwitz was liberated by the Soviet Red Army in 1945.

Bundestag President Wolfgang Schaeuble said at the special session that respect for the dignity of every person was one of the essential lessons learned following the persecutions carried out under the Nazis.

Schaeuble added that it was "shameful" that Jewish people living in Germany were reporting increasing numbers of anti-Semitic incidents.

"But shame alone is not enough," said Schaeuble, adding that "resistance to anti-Semitism, racism and discrimination of all kinds" was needed in everyday life.

Schaeuble recalled that an estimated 1.5 million children were killed in the Holocaust. Every fourth victim of the "National Socialist racial delusion" was a child, separated from the parents, sometimes tortured for medical experiments. 

The 86-year-old Israeli historian and Holocaust survivor Saul Friedlaender delivered the keynote address at the session, warning against the hatred of Jews and the "old and new conspiracy theories," which are popular especially among right-wing extremists. Those on the political left, on the other hand, hide their reservations behind "questioning Israel's right to exist." 

"Anti-Semitism in its traditional form -- and its new forms -- is becoming too obvious to overlook," he said, adding that it appears in conspiracy theories as well as in targeted criticisms of Israel.

"Naturally, it is legitimate to criticize the Israeli government, but the intensity and extent of the attacks has reached a new level," he said. 

Friedlaender's parents were both killed in Auschwitz. He survived the Holocaust by being hidden in a Catholic boarding school. In his speech, he recalled his sufferings during childhood, with some lawmakers and members of the audience moved to tears

"Thanks to its longtime changes since the war, Germany has become a bulwark against the threats I've mentioned," Friedlaender said.