German president marks ‘lonely’ World War II 75th anniversary

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday came together – 1.5 meters apart – to mark a somber and “lonely” commemoration for the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe.

In his speech, Steinmeier noted with sadness that representatives of the Allied nations that defeated Nazi Germany, as well as thousands of young people that had been invited from all over the world, were unable to attend the ceremony due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“Perhaps this being alone will take us back to May 8, 1945, because at that time the Germans were actually alone…defeated militarily, politically and economically…morally shattered. We had made ourselves the enemy of the whole world,” Steinmeier said.

Read more: May 8,1945 was ‘zero hour’ for Germany — in more ways than one

Speaking from the Neue Wache in Berlin, Germany’s main memorial to the victims of and dictatorship, the president noted that May 8,, 1945, the day the Nazis officially surrendered, “was the end of National Socialist tyranny, the end of bombing nights and death marches, the end of unprecedented German crimes and the Holocaust’s breach of civilization.”

However, he noted, that while it is now called “Liberation Day,” at the time, “it was far from being that in the minds and hearts of most Germans.” It took years, indeed decades, Steinmeier noted, for Germany to undergo the process of de-Nazification and earn its place back in the community of nations. Steinmeier thanked the survivors of Germany’s crimes, the descendants of victims, and “all those in the world who gave this country the chance to start again,” for allowing that to happen.

Steinmeier warns of ‘temptation of new nationalism’

The president also struck a positive tone, at one point highlighting that today, Germany “is a strong, solid democracy…in the heart of a peaceful and united Europe. We enjoy trust and reap the benefits of collaboration and partnerships around the world.”

But, Steinmeier warned, people must remain vigilant, amidst “the temptation of a new nationalism. The fascination of the authoritarian. Of distrust, isolation and hostility between nations. Of hatred and agitation, of xenophobia and contempt for democracy – because they are nothing but the old evil spirits in a new guise.”

Alluding to a recent increase in xenophobic and anti-Semitic crimes, Steinmeier then spoke of the victims of three such attacks in the past year, in the cities of Hanau, Halle, and Kassel.

“You are not forgotten!” he said.

Steinmeier closed out his speech by calling on all Germans to reflect on the victims of the Holocaust and the other crimes of the Nazis before he and Chancellor Merkel laid a wreath at the Neue Wache.

Read more: Germany: Anti-Semitism despite remembrance culture

Disappointment amidst digital commemorations

Many events that had been planned to mark the liberation of several Nazi concentration camps throughout the course of April, all of which were either canceled or severely scaled back. This year, for the first time, May 8 had been declared a state holiday in Berlin, and many other events had to be called off due to the ongoing public health crisis.

Germany’s minister for culture and media, Monika Grütters, said she was “endlessly sad” that the memorials had to be reduced to video messages or recordings of sparsely attended ceremonies.

Jens Wagner, the director of the memorial at the former Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, said that aging survivors were “deeply disappointed” that they could not attend this year’s event.

Wagner noted that they didn’t even know if they would be able to travel next year, and of course, how many would still be alive.

As survivors become fewer and fewer, commemorations can take on a new significance, reminding people in the absence of witnesses of the crimes of the Holocaust and as a warning not to repeat history.

For a transcript of Steinmeier’s speech in English click here.

• Veterans of World War II

  Julia Barsuk, born 1922

  Born in eastern Ukraine, Julia Barsuk volunteered to join the Red Army as a translator after having studied German in school. She was deemed too young when the war started but got her chance in 1942, during the Battle of Stalingrad. It was Barsuk’s job to interrogate German prisoners at the Stalingrad front.

• Veterans of World War II

  Giovanni Doretta, born 1921

  Giovanni Doretta was a teen when his family moved back to Italy from Paris. He was drafted in January 1941. His division was sent to the Russian front to replace German soldiers near Stalingrad in August 1942. By January they were surrounded and ultimately surrendered. He returned home in April 1946. Of the 52 men from his village listed as missing in action, he was one of four who made it back.

• Veterans of World War II

  Thomas Louis Gilzean, born 1920

  Born in Edinburgh, Thomas Louis Gilzean enlisted in the Corps of Royal Engineers in 1938. He trained as a sapper and specialized in bomb disposal and laying and clearing landmines. He served in Egypt and Libya and in Burma, as part of the Chindits, an Anglo-Indian special operations unit working behind Japanese lines. In September 1944 he landed in Normandy and fought in the Battle of the Bulge.

• Veterans of World War II

  Ernst Gottstein, born 1922

  Ernst Gottstein grew up in Czechoslovakia, a Czech of German descent. He finished his studies in 1941 and volunteered for the Wehrmacht. He fought throughout Europe, initially in the Soviet Union. In 1942 he joined the Afrika Korps and fought across North Africa. In 1943 he returned to Europe. He was captured by American soldiers in Bavaria in 1945. At war’s end he was a Hauptmann, a captain.

• Veterans of World War II

  Hajime Hiroto, born 1928

  Hajime Hiroto was only called to fight at the end of the war, when Japan was drafting boys under 18 in desperation. By June 1945 he had joined a Kamikaze unit. His training lasted a few weeks, just enough time to learn to take off, fly and crash into a US ship. In July he and his unit were set for their first — and last — suicide mission. His plane’s engine broke down. He never took off.

• Veterans of World War II

  Lancen Majid, born 1928

  Lancen Majid grew up in a Moroccan village and enlisted in the French army at 16. He became a stretcher-bearer and was transferred to Algeria. In November 1943 his medical battalion sailed to Naples. He worked in field hospitals in Italy with US and British troops and was part of the Allied invasion of southern France. His unit also treated German soldiers, but Allied soldiers always had priority.

• Veterans of World War II

  Joel D. Pasado, born 1924

  In the Philippines, Joel D. Pasada joined the US Army after war was declared. In July 1942, his Filipino squad ambushed a train carrying Japanese troops, cutting off the officers’ heads to present to their commanding officer; the Japanese captain on the train had brutalized Filipinos. For a year, he and his men lived undercover in a village with many Japanese, reporting back to the Americans.

• Veterans of World War II

  Pamela Tessier Bendall, born 1924

  Pamela Tessier Bendall volunteered for service in June 1941. After five interviews testing general intelligence, memory and reaction, she started work at RAF Fighter Command headquarters, near London. Her job was to monitor radars and alert the proper channel when the Germans launched an attack. In August 1944 she was transferred to Normandy and continued her work in France, Belgium and Germany.

  Author: Jonathan Alpeyrie

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