National Day of Mourning: "One's own peacefulness is not enough to keep the peace"

On the day of national mourning, many communities in the district commemorated the victims of war and tyranny on Sunday.

Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen – Commemorating the victims of war and tyranny, terrorism and extremism, anti-Semitism and racism: this idea of ​​the national day of mourning is more relevant than ever in times when war has returned to Europe.

This was made clear by the mayor of Tölz, Ingo Mehner, at the war memorial next to the Franciscan church.

The state silent commemoration day was also celebrated in many other places in the district with church processions and speeches.

Mehner recalled that the first national day of mourning after World War II was celebrated in Germany 70 years ago.

"Back then, the participants still had their own memories of the war," he said.

The following generation "thank God could grow up without these experiences".

But that meant that many people were very naïve when it came to the subject of war.

"I can still well remember how a classmate told me how superfluous the Bundeswehr was."

Reminder of deployments abroad for the Bundeswehr

It was always clear to him, Mehner, that that was not the case.

When he himself took part in a foreign mission with the Bundeswehr, he saw with his own eyes in Bosnia-Herzegovina what a war can do.

“But for the people in Germany, the war, which was only two hours away, was very far away.

We made ourselves comfortable."

But it's not enough to put the war out of your mind.

"You also have to work actively for peace," demanded Mehner.

In this regard, a lot has been done right in the past decades, such as maintaining personal cross-border contacts through town twinning, student exchanges and private trips.

Economic relations have also contributed to international coexistence instead of conflict.

Mehner: "Trade is not enough to secure peace"

"But the fact that trade is not enough to secure peace was a bitter experience for many, which was made clear to us by the Russian attack on Ukraine." to keep the peace – you also have to be able to defend yourself,” says Mehner.

The town band, marching band, rifle company, flag delegations and several town councilors took part in the Tölz commemoration.

In Ellbach, 3rd Mayor Christof Botzenhart laid a wreath.

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Mayor Stefan Klaffenbacher and Franz Leichmann from the veterans' association laid a wreath in Lenggries.

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Commemoration in Lenggries

The national day of mourning was celebrated in Lenggries with the lively participation of the population.

Mayor Stefan Klaffenbacher laid a wreath at the war memorial together with Franz Leichmann, chairman of the veterans' and warriors' association.

The pastors Josef Kraller (Catholic) and Matthias Schricker (Protestant) gave speeches.

(ast/dh)

You can find more current news from the region around Bad Tölz at Merkur.de/Bad Tölz.