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Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier
Photo: Wolfgang Kumm / dpa
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier wants to focus more closely on the victims of the corona pandemic and their families.
Before talking to the bereaved, he said in a speech at Bellevue Palace in Berlin: “We all lack a form of common commemoration and farewell.
Because in these dark times we felt how vulnerable we are as human beings and how much we depend on each other as a community. "
More than 70,000 people have already fallen victim to Corona in Germany.
And many others died a lonely death in this pandemic.
“Yes, there is hope that we will beat the pandemic - thanks to the vaccines that are now available to us.
But 71.504, that is and that will remain a harrowing, disturbing dimension.
And hundreds of people are still dying from Covid-19 infection every day. "
These are not just case numbers, elements of a statistic.
Behind every number there is a fate, there is a person who has passed away, said Steinmeier.
Behind it are people who have lost their loved ones, people who feared, trembled, fought, some of whom could not even have said goodbye.
"Behind this is infinite sadness and infinite pain and yes, sometimes bitterness."
As Federal President, he thinks it is very important "that we pause to say goodbye together in dignity to those who died during the pandemic." Also to those who did not fall victim to the virus but died just as lonely.
He wanted to give the bereaved a voice and show: "You are not alone with your suffering and your pain."
After Easter, the head of state wants to keep the memory of the dead of the corona pandemic alive with a central commemoration ceremony.
Steinmeier had already called on citizens to commemorate them in January.
People should put a candle in their window and also share a picture of it on social media using the hashtag #lichtfenster.
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