"You can only love Germany with a broken heart" - Federal President Steinmeier appealed to the Germans on the anniversary of the liberation. The corona pandemic is causing concern.
- Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU), among others, commemorated the end of the Second World War on Friday (May 8).
- Steinmeier issued an urgent warning against hatred, agitation and nationalism to the Germans.
- However, those living on the Holocaust also see the corona pandemic as a danger - the virus also prevented a planned government act.
Berlin / Munich - The Nazi criminal horror regime ended in Germany 75 years ago - and with it the Second World War. In Corona times, the commemorative ceremonies in the Federal Republic were unplanned: the proposed state act with 1,600 guests was canceled, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) laid a wreath in Berlin - the audience was not admitted to the appointment.
“We were liberated at that time. Today we have to free ourselves, ”said Steinmeier on Friday (May 8), referring to nationalism, hatred, agitation, and“ xenophobia and contempt for democracy ”. Steinmeier emphasized that in 1945 Germany was militarily defeated, politically and economically devastated, and morally shattered: "We had made the whole world an enemy."
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier speaking in Berlin.
© AFP / Hannibal Hanschke
75 years later, one had to commemorate the corona pandemic alone , but was not alone - Germany was now "in the heart of a peaceful and united Europe", that was the "happy message of today". "As Europeans we have to think, feel and act," said the Federal President. If Europe fails, the "never again" will fail. (Steinmeier's speech can be found here.)
World War II commemoration in Corona times: Holocaust survivor fears strengthening right-wing extremism
But the corona crisis does not only play a role in commemorating the liberation of Germany in the form of organizational hurdles . Survivors of the Nazi era also see the pandemic as a concrete political danger. They warned on Friday that right-wing extremism in Germany would gain strength .
The immense debt to deal with the crisis would further widen the gap between rich and poor; this in turn drives people more into the arms of the right-wing extremists, warned the Holocaust survivor and President of the Dachau camp community, Ernst Grube , in an interview with the dpa.
Corona and liberation anniversary: Knobloch warns of "blame as in the Middle Ages"
The President of the Jewish Community in Munich and Upper Bavaria, Charlotte Knobloch , also expressed concern. “The times of crisis, we know, were always times of hatred of the Jews. You can see the signs again this time, there are comments on the Internet or blame like in the Middle Ages. When there is great danger, the Jewish people are blamed, ”said Knobloch. “The Jews are to blame for everything. That is a creed that many pass on. “In Bavaria, the number of reported anti-Semitic motivated crimes has already increased significantly in 2019.
Knobloch also sharply criticized the AfD parliamentary group leader in the Bundestag, Alexander Gauland , who described the day on which the Second World War ended in Europe as the "day of absolute defeat". "The unbearable comparisons of Gauland also fit into the picture of the many historical twists on the part of the AfD. But they do not change the fact that we are celebrating May 8th again this year in freedom and democracy that would be unthinkable without May 8, 1945. "
Also Bundestag President Wolfgang Schäuble (CDU) criticized this statement. He had a "completely different position", he emphasized in an interview with the editorial network Germany: "The abyss of German history and European civilization came to an end. Finally."
Liberation Day: May 8, holiday in Berlin - Putin makes a clear statement
The unconditional surrender of the Wehrmacht ended the Second World War in Europe unleashed by Hitler's Germany on May 8, 1945. It cost between 55 and more than 60 million people here and in Asia, depending on the estimate . Among them were about 6 million European Jews who were murdered by the Nazis in their racial madness.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) and the President of the Bundestag, the Bundesrat and the Federal Constitutional Court, Schäuble, Dietmar Woidke (SPD) and Andreas Voßkuhle - - In Memory of May 8, 1945, the heads of the other four constitutional bodies gathered with Steinmeier on the new Guard in Berlin . It is the central memorial of the Federal Republic for the victims of war and tyranny. In the state of Berlin, Friday was a unique holiday.
In a television interview, Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin once again rejected the Soviet Union's fault for the outbreak of the Second World War. Germany attacked the Soviet Union and not the other way around. Everything else is "nonsense," he said. Putin also sent several congratulatory letters to heads of state and government to commemorate the victims, according to Kremlin. The victory was achieved at the time, it was said with a view to the former Soviet republics.
The Dachau concentration camp was liberated 75 years ago. The Münchner Merkur * reports on a special event in connection with this event.
dpa / fn
* Merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network.
