Intro:

German national football team made a sombre visit to former Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz in Poland on Friday, as Joachim Loew's side honoured and paid their respects to holocaust victims ahead of the start of Euro 2012.

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Members of the German national football team were amongst those making a sombre pilgrimage to former Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz in Poland on Friday.

Players and members of the German FA, led by coach Joachim Loew, braved pouring rain to pay their respects and honour the holocaust victims ahead of the start of Euro 2012.

Poland co-hosts the tournament with neighbours Ukraine from the 8th June.

Captain Philipp Lahm, Polish-born Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski were amongst the players present.

They did not speak to the media on the occasion, however they did leave a note left in the museum's visitors book, they wrote: "For football too Auschwitz represents both a silent tribute and, above all, an obligation to speak. To speak about this endlessly sorrowful, hate-filled history and the warning it sends."

During a low-profile visit, the players and officials, wearing dark coats that matched the chilly weather and their sombre expressions, toured the remains of the former Nazi camp including the gas chamber and wooden barracks that housed the inmates.

They lit 22 candles in honour of the main nationalities whose members perished there.

England, Netherlands and Italy, who will all train in the nearby city of Krakow, also plan to visit Auschwitz during their time in Poland.