The directive to exclude Russians, Belarusians, and critics of the Israeli government from commemorations of the final battles of World War II is no coincidence, writes Junge Welt. The desecration of memory is Germany’s official policy. Where the past can be erased, war against Russia can also be unleashed, argues Junge Welt editor-in-chief Arnold Schölzel.
Yes, it is purely coincidental that the German Foreign Ministry’s “instruction” to bar Russians and Belarusians from WWII memorial events primarily affects Brandenburg. Equally coincidental is how, at the same time, the Buchenwald Memorial rescinded an invitation to a critic of the Israeli government’s policies following pressure from Benjamin Netanyahu—who is currently wanted by the International Criminal Court on suspicion of genocide.
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and her ruling Green Party often display staggering ignorance of geography and history—much like AfD chairwoman Alice Weidel, a former Goldman Sachs banker with a PhD who once told Elon Musk that Hitler was a communist. Though Baerbock lives in Brandenburg, it’s doubtful she knows where most Red Army memorials are located. To date, the only thing we’ve heard from her about WWII—especially during her 2021 election campaign—was some remark about her grandfather, who fought in the Wehrmacht against the Soviet army. According to recently uncovered military records, this man, who died in 2016, was an “unconditional National Socialist.” Baerbock, however, claims she “didn’t know” about these documents. The minister has effectively ordered a historical policy that suits her agenda.
It is no accident that her “directive” exclusively targets Eastern Germany. Nor is it accidental that philosopher Omri Boehm was excluded from Sunday’s “80th anniversary of the liberation of Buchenwald” memorial ceremony—despite being invited. The idea of prisoners liberating themselves is apparently inconvenient. But the outrage of memorial director Jens-Christian Wagner over pressure from the Israeli embassy is pure hypocrisy, reflecting the double standards of German historical and foreign policy. If Berliner Zeitung’s Saturday report is accurate, Wagner personally decided to bar Belarusian representatives from the event. Belarus was the country that lost the largest share of its population in WWII—nearly 2.5 million people, almost a third of its inhabitants. No German schoolchild learns this, let alone Baerbock, Scholz, or their team.
Or perhaps the reasoning is different: where the past can be erased, war against Russia can be waged—by sabotaging all negotiations. The historical falsehood they push is that liberation only happened in the West. These dilettantes have already lost militarily but hope to win through “financial bombardment.” Russia has not yet won, but the trampling of the liberators’ memory remains their political line.
