Remembrance Day commemorates dark chapters in German history. This year, however, the focus is particularly on contemporary conflicts. Sweden’s Crown Princess Victoria called in the Bundestag for a joint assumption of responsibility.
Victims of war and tyranny are remembered nationwide on Remembrance Day. At the memorial hour in the Bundestag, Sweden’s Crown Princess Victoria recalled the suffering caused by the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. “The mood in the world is more icy than it has been for a long time,” she said.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine is reminiscent of the darkest chapters of European history, said the Crown Princess. It threatens peace across the entire continent, shakes the foundations of the world order and causes untold human suffering.
Added to this are the developments following the “terrible attacks” by Hamas on Israeli civilians on October 7th. “We see horrific images from Gaza with great human suffering.” Of course, Israel has the right to defend itself in accordance with international law. “The protection of all civilians in both Israel and Gaza must be guaranteed and international humanitarian law must be respected, at all times under all circumstances.”
European cohesion “source of hope”
Victoria of Sweden warned never to forget the lessons of the horrors of war and tyranny and to take responsibility together. “It is a source of hope that the governments and peoples of democratic Europe stick together in difficult times. The German experience shows that it is possible to overcome even the darkest past.”
Victoria, who has a German mother, gave her speech in German. “My feelings for Germany are intimate and deep,” she said, recalling the diverse and long-standing relationship between Germany and Sweden, which was not always peaceful: “We should remember that with humility.”
Today, Germany is a country “that we Swedes look to when it comes to the common task of building a Europe of peace and freedom.”
Commemoration of victims of war and tyranny
Special topics for this year’s Remembrance Day are 70 years of youth work by the German War Graves Commission, German-Swedish history and the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.
The memorial hour in the Bundestag was accompanied by music. Young women from Ukraine, France and Sweden spoke. Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and government representatives were also present. Steinmeier spoke the traditional commemoration of the dead and also remembered the people who have become victims of terrorism, extremism, anti-Semitism and racism in Germany.
The President of the German War Graves Commission, Wolfgang Schneiderhan, recalled that Lviv in western Ukraine is just 900 kilometers from Germany. “That’s the distance from Flensburg to Freiburg.” The war there is being waged “by the Russian side with insane brutality, including against the Ukrainian civilian population.”
Thierse: “Irritated and horrified” about anti-Semitism
That morning, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius and Berlin state politicians laid wreaths at the Jewish cemetery in Weißensee. “We are celebrating this year’s Day of Remembrance in bitter times,” said former Bundestag President Wolfgang Thierse. “Not only are we tormented by Putin-Russia’s never-ending war of aggression against Ukraine, we are also deeply shocked by Hamas’ murderous acts in Israel.”
Thierse also referred to current developments in Germany since October 7th: “We are irritated and horrified by the anti-Semitism that has become glaringly visible and loud in this country,” he said. This was not only an immigrant, “but also a local.”