Watch this BBC report on the legacy of Kristallnacht

Ignatz Bubis, the leader of Germany's Jews, said there was a clear movement toward an ''intellectual nationalism'' which encouraged neo-Nazis.

Mr Bubis was speaking at a cermony at a Berlin synagogue to remember Kristalnacht - or "Night of Broken Glass".

Mr Bubis warns of the growth of far right

Some 91 Jews died during the events of 9 -10 November, 1938, when Nazi stormtroopers ransacked and torched Jewish businesses and synagogues.

It was the beginning of a long and systematic campaign of terror that culminated in the Holocaust.

Mr Bubis criticised writers like Martin Walser, who say it is time Germany stopped wallowing in shame, for encouraging the growth of the far right.

"Those who are not prepared to address this aspect of history and try to look away or to forget, must accept the fact that history can be repeated," he added.

'A slap in the face of civilisation'

President Roman Herzog who led the ceremony said Kristalnacht was "one of the most horrible and shameful moments'' of German history.

Mr Bubis: Growing numbers of young people are joining the far right

"It was only a precursor of what was to come. But its events were also in themselves such a slap in the face of humanity and civilisation that we must be reminded of this date again and again,'' he added.

Israel's chief rabbi, Meir Lau, also spoke, recalling his imprisonment as a child in the Nazi concentration camp Buchenwald.

At a memorial service in Munich, Israel's ambassador to Germany, Avi Primor, warned Germans against trying to bury the Holocaust.

"Anyone who tries to forget the past is living with a corpse in the basement," Mr Primor said.

Berlin was one of the world's largest Jewish centres before the war with some 160,000 Jews. By 1945 just 1,400 remained.

Swastikas found on Jewish memorial

Concerns about a resurgence of anti-Semitism were underlined on Monday after tiny swastikas were found scratched on a Holocaust memorial in the city.

Swastikas were found on this memorial

In an interview before the ceremony Mr Bubis said the movement appeared to be gaining acceptability across society.

He had also started receiving signed anti-Jewish hate letters, as opposed to the anonymous mail sent before.

Mr Bubis said Germans still "see the Jew first, rarely the human being, and even more rarely the German".

In April, the right-wing German People's Union won 12.9% of the vote at a regional election.

It was the far right's best result since the Nazi period and one third of the votes came from the 18-25 group.

Controversy in Russia

Meanwhile, controversy about anti-Semitism has also arisen in Russia, with a call for the Communist Party to be banned for tolerating the practice.

The row blew up after a Communist-backed parliamentary deputy said Jews were causing Russia's economic problems and should be jailed.

Albert Makashov said in a press interview that Jews "drink the blood of the indigenous peoples of the state; they are destroying industry and agriculture."

Former Russian Prime Minister Yegor Gaidar, said the incident proved that the Communist Party had evolved into fascism and should be banned.