Pope Benedict used his Sunday message to discuss the Holocuast, telling pilgrims that Nazi concentration camps were extreme symbols of evil.

The current pope was born in Germany and said he was forced to join the Hitler Youth.

Benedict decided to talk about the issue, this weekend to help remember two saints who died at the Nazi concentration camp, known as Auschwitz.

"Nazi concentration camps, like all extermination camps, can be considered extreme symbols of evil, of the hell that opens up on earth when man forgets God and takes His place, usurping from Him the right to decide what is good  and what is evil, the right to give life and death," Pope Bendict said.  "Unfortunately though, this sad phenomenon isn't restricted to concentration camps."

"Concentration camps are merely the most extreme example of a reality which is widespread and whose extent is unknown," he added.

The pope said the attitudes that lead to the Holocaust can also be seen in what he called "Contemporary nihilism."