On Remembrance Day, Bundestag President Julia Klöckner called for the consistent defense of peace and democracy. Commemorations should mean more than just remembering, he said in Berlin. “This must mean understanding and action: Peace and democracy are not simply given conditions that can be managed. It is a task that begins every day and no one else can do it for us.”
With a central event on Bundestag This week, the millions who died in the world wars and the victims of National Socialism are remembered. Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Italian President Sergio Mattarella lay a wreath at the Central Memorial for the Victims of War and Tyranny in Berlin. A central commemorative event will then take place in the Bundestag. Since this year’s Remembrance Day is dedicated to Italian-German friendship, Mattarella will also give a commemorative speech there. Klöckner will also meet with the Italian President for bilateral discussions. Klöckner had ordered mourning flags for the Reichstag building on 16 November.
“Those who honor the victims of war and violence, who know where hatred and delusion lead, must not remain silent when peace and democracy are threatened – anywhere in the world,” Klöckner said. Remembrance Day is “a harsh reminder for us today, in a time of increasing historical distance from the horrors of two world wars and the reality of concurrent wars – and unfortunately also normal wars in Europe.”
Texts commemorating the dead were expanded
After Mattarella’s speech, Steinmeier spoke in memory of the dead. The tradition has been around since 1952; This year, for the first time, the accompanying text will be expanded to include people who were victims of the Nazis because of their gender orientation or sexual identity, as well as police officers killed in action. The Bundestag also included queer victims of the Nazis in its 2023 commemoration of Holocaust Remembrance Day.
The first official ceremony for a day of mourning took place more than 100 years ago, in 1922, at the Reichstag. During the Nazi dictatorship, the NSDAP and the Wehrmacht made this day a propaganda “Heroes’ Remembrance Day”. This day was introduced in the Federal Republic of Germany in the early 1950s as a day of remembrance for the victims of the world wars, the Nazi government, as well as the wars and acts of violence that occurred in Germany. It happened two Sundays before the first Advent.
Volksbund warns of decline in war graves
Before Remembrance Day, Wolfgang Schneiderhan, President of the German War Graves Commission, complained about the organization’s financial problems and warned of a decline in the number of war graves. The Volksbund will receive an additional 2.5 million euros in next year’s federal budget, Schneiderhan said German Editorial Network. However, this only partially covers the current deficit.
On the one hand, donations, which account for more than half of annual revenue of around 54 million euros, are falling. At the same time, spending continues to increase. Schneiderhan warned that “our war graves are becoming increasingly damaged.” There is a lack of reliable funding for the future of “the important state tasks carried out by the Volksbund.” Today, nearly 68,000 members support the work of the federal government.
