GERMANY: Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko visits Flossenbuerg concentration camp where his father was imprisoned in 1945

Yuschenko visits German concentration camp where his father was detained; German foreign minister comments on Afghan hostages. Sixty-two years after its inmates were liberated at the end of the Second World War, a former German concentration camp has reopened as a museum. Among the guests of honour at Flossenbuerg was Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, whose father was detained at the camp for five months until April 1945. "I have very special feelings reserved for this place", Yushchenko told guests during a memorial service on Sunday (July 22). "My father has been to many concentration camps, but this is the first one that allows me to follow in my father's footsteps." Built in 1938, Flossenbuerg detained more than 100,000 prisoners until its liberation in April 1945. More than 30.000 people, mainly Russians and Eastern Europeans, died in the Bavarian camp. Yushchenko and his wife Katarina explored the newly assembled exhibition, being visibly touched by a photograph of Yushchenko's father Andrij. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier was also at the opening. He was asked about the fate of the German hostages held in Afghanistan. One has died, reportedly of a heart attack. The other one is, believed by the Germans, to be alive. "We are working closely together with the Afghan authorities to save the life of the second German hostage" he said.

ITN Source | July 23, 2007

Tags:. .war. .second. .special. .place. .months