(JNS) Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, who is on a visit to Israel this week, said that it took his country “too long to be honest” about its role in the Holocaust.

“To remember means also to admit the truth. At that time, many Austrians supported the system, which killed over six million Jews from all over Europe and beyond. Among them, 60,000 fellow Austrian Jewish citizens in Austria alone,” Kurz said in a speech at the American Jewish Committee’s Global Forum in Jerusalem. “It took Austria a long time to be honest about its past. We’ve realized that Austria was not only a victim, but also a perpetrator. Nevertheless, Austria has looked away far too long and has fulfilled its historical responsibility too late.”

But Kurz said that given this history, Austrians today “have a great responsibility” to make sure the Holocaust never happens again.