Germany has no right to forget the atrocities committed by the Nazi regime in Europe, including in Ukraine, and must prevent the destruction of democracy today.
This was stated by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on January 29 at a special session of the Bundestag, where the state’s top leadership, lawmakers, and a special Ukrainian guest, former prisoner of the Jewish ghetto, Roman Schwarzman, honored the memory of the victims of National Socialism, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.
“Historical truth simply cannot be hidden! We must face this truth again and again. And we must not stop telling future generations about it… Our generation’s task is to work against oblivion everywhere in Europe… The Holocaust is part of German history, whether we like it or not, it is part of our identity,” the German president emphasized.
He noted that what the Germans and their accomplices did on the territory of modern Ukraine was a campaign of extermination that began even before the Germans implemented their plan to systematically murder European Jews in death camps.
“Jewish life was destroyed in Odesa, in Babyn Yar, in Chernivtsi, in Kherson, near Kharkiv, in Dnipro. We are obliged to honor the memory of the victims with dignity. We will not forget them,” Steinmeier promised.
The head of state emphasized that Putin is waging “a terrible war against Ukraine, against its freedom and independence, against the people of Ukraine.”
He thanked Roman Schwarzman for coming a long way from his hometown of Odesa, which was attacked by Russia, and assured that Germany supports the Ukrainian in his work to preserve memory and create a museum to commemorate the victims. Steinmeier and Schwarzman had already discussed the memorial when they met four years ago.
Steinmeier also noted a worrying trend of memorial sites, including those in Germany, being attacked and desecrated. These attacks are aimed at intimidating, destroying and, ultimately, discrediting memory and rewriting history, he is convinced.
The politician warned against forgetting or minimizing the crimes of the Holocaust, as well as against attacks on today’s democracy, spreading enmity, violence, and misanthropy.
“Take the enemies of democracy seriously… We live in a time of decision-making. It is in our hands to preserve what we have achieved and protect our democracy. “Let’s not roll back to the dark times,” Steinmeier urged.
on the anniversary of Auschwitz liberation, the German parliament traditionally commemorates the millions of people who were deprived of their rights, persecuted, and killed by the Nazi regime.
This year marks the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp. Commemorative events were held at the memorial center on the site of the former camp in Poland, attended by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Source: Steinmeier warns against ignoring lessons of history
