In emphatic words, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier recalled the liberation from National Socialism. His speech in the wording:
Berlin - Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, along with the other leaders of the state, thought of the liberation of Germany from National Socialism by the Allies 75 years ago. He called for the defense of democracy in Germany and the cohesion of Europe.
Commemoration of the liberation - The speech by Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in the wording:
“The Second World War came to an end 75 years ago in Europe.
May 8, 1945 was the end of National Socialist tyranny, the end of bombing nights and death marches, the end of unprecedented German crimes and the Shoah’s breach of civilization. Here in Berlin, where the war of extermination was conceived and unleashed and where it returned with all the force of destruction - here in Berlin we wanted to commemorate today.
We wanted to remember - together with representatives of the Allies from the West and from the East, who freed this continent - under greatest victims. Together with our partners from all parts of Europe, who suffered under German occupation and were still ready for reconciliation. Together with the survivors of German crimes and the descendants of the victims, many of whom have reached out to us. Together with all those in the world who gave this country the chance to start again.
We wanted to remember - even with the older people in our country who experienced that time themselves. They suffered from hunger, flight, violence and displacement as children. After the war they built this country, in the east and in the west.
And we wanted to commemorate with the younger ones, who, three generations later, ask what the past actually has to tell them - and to whom I shout: “It depends on you! It is you who have to carry the lessons of this terrible war into the future! ”That is exactly why we invited thousands of young people from all over the world to Berlin today, young people whose ancestors were enemies and who have become friends today.
So we wanted to commemorate this May 8th together. But now the corona pandemic is forcing us to commemorate alone - separately from those who are important to us and to whom we are grateful.
Perhaps this being alone will take us back to May 8, 1945, because at that time the Germans were actually alone. Germany was defeated militarily, politically and economically on the ground, morally shattered. We had made ourselves the enemy of the whole world.
Today, 75 years later, we have to think alone - but: we are not alone! That is the happy message of today! We live in a strong, solid democracy, in the thirtieth year of reunified Germany, in the heart of a peaceful and united Europe. We enjoy trust and reap the benefits of collaboration and partnership around the world. Yes, we Germans can say today: The day of liberation is a day of gratitude!
It took three generations for us to be wholeheartedly committed to it.
Yes, May 8, 1945 was a day of liberation. But it was far from being in the minds and hearts of most Germans.
The liberation had come from outside in 1945. It had to come from outside - this country was so deeply involved in its own disaster, in its debt. And economic reconstruction and a democratic new beginning in the western part of Germany were only possible through the generosity, foresight and willingness to reconcile the former opponents of the war.
But we ourselves are part of the liberation. It was the inner liberation. It didn't happen on May 8, 1945, not on a single day. It was a long, painful journey. Working up and educating about complicity and complicity, agonizing questions in families and between generations, the fight against concealment and repressing.
It was decades in which many Germans of my generation could only gradually make their peace with this country. It was decades that gave our neighbors new confidence, that enabled cautious rapprochement, from the European unification process to the Eastern Treaties. And there were decades in which courage and love of freedom could no longer be walled in in the east of our continent - right up to the happiest moment of liberation: the peaceful revolution and reunification. These decades of struggling with our history were decades in which democracy in Germany could only mature.
And this struggle remains until today. There is no end to remembering. There is no redemption from our history. Because without memory we lose our future.
Just because we Germans face our history, because we accept historical responsibility, the peoples of the world have given our country new confidence. And that's why we too can trust ourselves to this Germany. This is an enlightened, democratic patriotism. There is no German patriotism without breaks. Without looking at light and shadow, without joy and sadness, without gratitude and shame.
Rabbi Nachman said: "No heart is as whole as a broken heart." German history is a broken story - with responsibility for millions of murders and millions of sufferings. It still breaks our hearts today. Therefore: You can only love this country with a broken heart.
Those who cannot endure this, who call for a final line, are not only suppressing the catastrophe of war and the Nazi dictatorship. It also devalues all the good that we have achieved since then - it even denies the essence of our democracy.
"Human dignity is inviolable." In this first sentence of our constitution, everything in Auschwitz, what happened in war and dictatorship, is and remains visible to everyone. No, not remembering is a burden - not remembering becomes a burden. Not accepting responsibility is a shame - denying is a shame!
But what does our historical responsibility mean today, three quarters of a century later? The gratitude that we feel today must not make us comfortable. On the contrary: memories challenge and oblige us!
,Never again!' - We swore to ourselves after the war. But this “never again!” For us Germans means above all: “never again alone!” Nowhere is this sentence as valid as in Europe. We have to keep Europe together. We have to think, feel and act as Europeans. If we don't hold Europe together, even in and after this pandemic, then May 8th will not prove to be worthy. If Europe fails, the "Never again!"
The world community has learned from the "never again!" After 1945, it poured the lessons from the catastrophe into a common foundation, in human rights and international law, in rules for peace and cooperation.
Our country, from which calamity began, has become the sponsor of the threat to international order over the years. So we must not allow this order of peace to melt before our eyes today. We cannot accept the alienation from those who built it. We want more and not less cooperation in the world - also in the fight against the pandemic.
'May 8th was a day of liberation.' I believe that we have to read Richard von Weizsäcker's famous sentence in a new and different way today. At that time, this sentence was a milestone in the struggle with our past. Today, however, it must focus on our future. Indeed, “liberation” is never complete and it is not something that we only experience passively, but actively challenges us every day.
We were liberated at that time. Today we have to free ourselves!
The temptation of a new nationalism. The fascination of the authoritarian. Of distrust, isolation and hostility between nations. Of hatred and agitation, of xenophobia and contempt for democracy - because they are nothing else than the old evil spirits in a new guise. On May 8th we also think of the victims of Hanau, Halle and Kassel. You are not forgotten by Corona!
"If it can happen here, it can happen anywhere." This is what Israeli President Reuven Rivlin called to us this year on the Holocaust Memorial Day in the German Bundestag. If it can happen here, it can happen anywhere. But today there is no one to free us from these dangers. We have to do it ourselves. We were liberated - liberated at our own responsibility!
I know well: This May 8th comes at a time of great upheaval and great uncertainty. Not only, but especially because of the corona pandemic. We still don't know how and when we can get out of this crisis. But we know what attitude we took into it: with great confidence in this country, in our democracy, in what we can shoulder together. That shows how far we have come in 75 years. And that gives me hope for everything that may still lie ahead.
Dear fellow citizens, we cannot remember together because of Corona, we cannot hold large commemorative events. But let's use silence. Let’s stop.
I ask all Germans: today, in silence, commemorate the victims of war and Nazism! Regardless of where your roots may be, question your memories, the memories of your families, the history of our common country! Think about what liberation means, what May 8th means for your life and your actions!
75 years after the end of the war, we Germans can be grateful for many things. But none of all the good that has grown since then has been secured forever. Therefore, also in this sense: May 8th was not the end of the liberation - freedom and democracy are rather its enduring mission, our mission! ”
dpa