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Association of those persecuted by the Nazi regime
Photo: Sachelle Babbar / imago images/ZUMA Wire
The association of those persecuted by the Nazi regime wants May 8th, the day of liberation from National Socialism, to become a permanent holiday throughout Germany.
The association submitted a petition to the President of the Federal Council, Bodo Ramelow.
On May 8, 1945, the Second World War in Europe ended with the complete surrender of the German Wehrmacht.
"We hope that 175,000 signatures will be understood by the members of the Federal Council as a clear vote to make the day of liberation a public holiday," said Florian Gutsche, the federal chairman of the association, when the petition was handed over to the Thuringian state parliament.
The campaign was launched together with Holocaust survivor Esther Bejarano, who died last year.
The association hopes that its petition will ensure that May 8th, 2023 is a public holiday.
It must also be discussed what needs to be done so that a fascist regime can never come to power in Germany again, the association said.
This is indispensable in a country "that is responsible for the deaths of millions of people and in which the AfD, a partly fascist party, wants to seize power".
The Association of Those Persecuted by the Nazi Regime was founded in 1947 by survivors of the German concentration camps.
It currently has around 7000 members.
til/dpa