Commemorating July 20, 1944
Pistorius calls for defensive democracy
Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) in the courtyard of the Bendler Block in front of the commemorative wreath. The ceremony commemorates the 79th anniversary of the attempted assassination and coup against Hitler. photo
© Fabian Sommer/dpa
“We have to show a clear edge against every form of extremism and strengthen our defenses,” warns the Federal Defense Minister, recalling history – but also looking to the future.
On the 79th anniversary of the failed assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler on July 20, 1944, the Federal Minister of Defence Boris Pistorius recognized the women and men involved as role models. At the time, they followed their conscience and, despite little chance of success, courageously and resolutely opposed injustice, said the SPD politician on Thursday at a commemoration event in the courtyard of the Bendler Block in Berlin. Their actions are also a reminder and obligation for today’s generations that Germany should never again be allowed to do injustice.
The victims of the women and men around the assassin Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg were not in vain, said Pistorius. One lesson is that a democracy has to be careful and defensive and all democrats have to stand up for their values again and again. Because: “Our security and our freedom, our democratic and open society are not a matter of course, but the most precious asset in which we have to invest again and again, that we have to defend.”
Pistorius: Support Ukraine
It is therefore important to resolutely oppose the Russian war of aggression and to support Ukraine in its fight for freedom and justice – “as long as it is necessary”. But in Germany, too, democracy must be careful. “Growing anti-Semitism, hatred, hate speech and violence are taking on proportions that endanger democracy,” said Pistorius. “We must show a clear edge against any form of extremism and strengthen our defenses.”
On July 20, 1944, Wehrmacht officers around Stauffenberg tried in vain to kill Hitler with a bomb and end the war. Stauffenberg and three co-conspirators were shot in the courtyard of the Bendlerblock on the evening of the assassination. In the weeks and months that followed, the Nazis executed around 90 other participants and supporters.
In the early evening, a solemn pledge of about 400 Bundeswehr recruits was planned to mark the anniversary in the Bendlerblock, the Berlin office of the Ministry of Defense.