MOSCOW

 Russia's Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has paid tribute to the WWII victims of the Nazis as the 70th anniversary of the liberation by Soviet troops of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi death camp is commemorated around the world.

Medvedev posted on his personal Facebook wall on Tuesday: "We bow our heads before the victims of the Holocaust and all those who died in the brutal war unleashed by the Nazis."

"People need to remember the tremendous price paid for mankind condoning xenophobia and chauvinism." 

In a message published on the Russian government's official website, Medvedev reminded the world of the Red Army's role in the liberation of Auschwitz and other concentration camps in Eastern Europe.

"Dear friends, allow me, from the bottom of my heart, to thank veterans for winning the Great Patriotic War and to wish all of you good health, a long life, prosperity and peace," he said.

The Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp complex was liberated by the Soviet 322nd rifle division on Jan. 27, 1945.

It is estimated that 1.5 million people, mostly Jews, died in the Nazi death camp.