As of: 03/11/2023 6:49 p.m
On the National Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Terrorist Violence, political representatives called for social cohesion. There should be no room for hatred and violence. Victims should not be left alone.
Representatives of politics and society used the National Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Terrorist Violence as an opportunity to call for action against violence and for cohesion among the population. The victims of terrorist attacks were also commemorated.
Gauck: Do not react to “hatred of the perpetrators” with “hate”
Former Federal President Joachim Gauck said at the central commemoration event in Berlin that the consequences of terrorist violence at home and abroad triggered “horror, sadness, desperation and also anger”. Victims and relatives who are “injured in soul and body” should not be left alone.
Terrorist attacks aimed at the heart of everyday life and at society as a whole, said Gauck. They hit unsuspecting people and are directed against freedom and democracy. “There are always attacks on society as a whole,” emphasized the Protestant theologian. However, Gauck should not respond to the “hatred of the perpetrators” with hatred: “Our democracy should remain liberal and at the same time be defensive.”
At the same time, the former Federal President warned against expecting complete security from the state. No government can avert every threat, he said. The state must become more active, but cannot solve everything. Peace, freedom and security must be defended together. In a pluralistic society, cohesion can only be maintained with a common code of values.
Better treatment of victims and their families
In his speech, the Federal Government Commissioner for Victims, Pascal Kober, called for the state, society and authorities to learn to deal more empathetically with those affected. According to the FDP politician, there were failures in many places, some of which have persisted to this day, despite improvements. The day of remembrance must therefore also give space for open words so that lessons can be learned from the failures of the past.
“Every person counts”
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) called for the memory of the individual victims of terrorist acts to be kept alive. “In their fanaticism, terrorists believe their victims don’t count for anything. They’re wrong. Everyone counts,” explained Faeser. For trust in democracy and social cohesion, it is important that “all government agencies take care of the victims of terrorist violence with the greatest possible empathy, sensitivity and support.”
Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann (FDP) said at the commemoration that no terrorist violence should “achieve its destructive goals”. The task of the state would be to stand in the way of the danger as soon as violence in words and gestures begins to take shape: “Hate for our free way of life does not deserve the slightest tolerance,” says Buschmann.
The national day of remembrance in Germany was celebrated for the second time. It ties in with the European Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Terrorism, which was launched after the Islamist bombings in Madrid on March 11, 2004. Every year since 2005, the European Union commemorates those affected by terrorist atrocities worldwide.