A museum and education centre will soon be built in Canberra to commemorate victims of the Holocaust.

The federal government will commit $750,000 towards the new facility.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, who lost family members in the Holocaust, described it as one of the darkest chapters in world history.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re Jewish or non-Jewish, understanding the Holocaust and learning lessons of the past is critical to a better future for all of us,” he told ABC radio on Wednesday.

More than six million Jews were killed in the Holocaust, including 1.5 million children, while other minority groups were also victims of the Nazi killing machine.

Mr Frydenberg said the genocide was not just a crime against the Jewish people, but a crime against humanity.

“If we were to observe a minute’s silence for every victim, that silence would go for 11 years,” he said.

“And now, survivors are passing by, and with time memories fade, events are forgotten.

“There is historic revisionism in some parts of the world, in some countries, and that’s why reminding everyone of that tragic chapter in world history is so important.”

Wednesday marks the 76th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.

United Nations general-secretary Antonio Guterres used International Holocaust Remembrance Day to warn of a global crisis in anti-semitic hatred.

He called on world leaders to tackle a resurgence in neo-Nazism and white supremacy.

Mr Frydenberg spoke of his disgust after seeing members of a mob who attacked the US Capitol dressed in clothing emblazoned with Nazi slogans and symbols.

“Frightening, despicable, disgusting,” he said.

“To see that in the United States, in their Capitol, was truly frightening. And I think it should, for all of us, send a very chilling message that we need to redouble our efforts to ensure that we say ‘never again’.”

-AAP