The spokeswoman said the government was in contact with Polish authorities about what was required.

"We consider it a core duty of Germany to keep the memory of the Holocaust alive," she said.

Decaying site

An estimated 1.1 million European Jews died in the gas chambers of Auschwitz during World War II. The concentration camp, built in 1940, is badly in need of repair.

Without foreign assistance it faces falling into decay, according to the director of the Auschwitz memorial center, Piotr Cywinski, who sought international funding last summer.

The center requires around 50 million euros ($66 million) for urgently needed restorations. The Polish government provides it with the equivalent of 2.5 million euros annually.

In the 1990s, Germany contributed 30 million marks ($19 million) towards renovation work.