US President George W. Bush on Wednesday called on Americans to observe the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp, calling the anniversary an opportunity to "pass on the stories and lessons of the Holocaust to future generations."

"The history of the Holocaust demonstrates that evil is real, but hope endures," Bush said in a proclamation.

Proclaiming Thursday as a day of remembrance, Bush urged all Americans to honor the victims of Auschwitz, southern Poland, and the Holocaust.

At the Auschwitz concentration camp, he said, "evil found willing servants and innocent victims," where more than 1 million people were killed during a period of almost 5 years.

"In places like Auschwitz, evidence of the horror of the Holocaust has been preserved to help the world remember the past. We must never forget the cruelty of the guilty and the courage of the victims at Auschwitz and other Nazi concentration camps," he said.

Six million Jews were murdered by Nazi Germany and its collaborators between 1933 and 1945, and Roma (Gypsies), the handicapped and Poles were also targeted for destruction or decimation for racial, ethnic, or national reasons, according to the US Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Source: Xinhua