The Secretary of the United Nations, António Guterres, warned today that the motivations behind the Nazi holocaust continue today with a growing trend around the world.

"Eighty years after the end of the Holocaust, anti-Semitism is still present, fueled by the same lies and hatred that enabled the Nazi genocide. And it's growing. Discrimination is widespread. Hatred is being instigated all over the world. Indisputable historical facts are being distorted, diminished and denied," he noted, in a message on the occasion of today's 80th anniversary of the decimation of more than six million Jews in Germany under Adolf Hitler's regime.

According to Guterres, there is an attempt to manipulate historical records in order to exonerate the Nazi regime and its collaborators.

"We must stop these outrages. In these days of division, and more than a year since the terrible attacks of October 7 by Hamas, we must be firm in our common humanity. We must condemn anti-Semitism, as well as all forms of racism, prejudice and religious intolerance," he said, calling for respect for human rights.

The UN chief's message points to the Holocaust as an illustration of what happens when hatred, dehumanization and apathy win out.

The UN marks the International Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Holocaust. This year, the date coincides with the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, a complex in Poland then held by the Nazi regime.