Weizsäcker's speech on 40th anniversary of WW2's end (1985)
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Weizsäcker's speech on 40th anniversary of WW2's end (1985)
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Re: Weizsäcker's speech on 40th anniversary of WW2's end (1985)
#2This: "For us, the 8th of May is above all a date to remember what people had to suffer. It is also a date to reflect on the course taken by our history. The greater honesty we show in commemorating this day, the freer we are to face the consequences with due responsibility. For us Germans, 8 May is not a day of celebration. Those who actually witnessed that day in 1945 think back on highly personal and hence highly different experiences. Some returned home, others lost their homes. Some were liberated, whilst for others it was the start of captivity. Many were simply grateful that the bombing at night and fear had passed and that they had survived. Others felt first and foremost grief at the complete defeat suffered by their country. Some Germans felt bitterness about their shattered illusions, whilst others were grateful for the gift of a new start."
Re: Weizsäcker's speech on 40th anniversary of WW2's end (1985)
#3"Yet with every day something became clearer, and this must be stated on behalf of all of us today: the 8th of May was a day of liberation. It liberated all of us from the inhumanity and tyranny of the National-Socialist regime."
"What is asked of young people today is this: do not let yourselves be forced into enmity and hatred of other people, of Russians or Americans, Jews or Turks, of alternatives or conservatives, blacks or whites. Learn to live together, not in opposition to each other."
Re: Weizsäcker's speech on 40th anniversary of WW2's end (1985)
#4[deleted]
Re: Weizsäcker's speech on 40th anniversary of WW2's end (1985)
#5It is a famous and well written speech, made at a time when Germany was still a cohesive country and WWII criminals were still alive.
I don't see the relevance when we face completely different issues nowadays. European/German guilt has been used to justify a lot of measures that strangely enough always benefited the upper class and the stock market.
Perhaps there should be a new Weizsaecker speech.
Re: Weizsäcker's speech on 40th anniversary of WW2's end (1985)
#6It is a famous and well written speech, made at a time when Germany was still a cohesive country and WWII criminals were still alive. I don't see the relevance when we face completely different issues nowadays. European/German guilt has been used to justify a lot of measures that strangely enough always benefited the upper class and the stock market. Perhaps there should be a new Weizsaecker speech.
Different issues, still generally applicable principles. Yes, there should be a new Wiezsaecker speech.
I just doubt it would be what you think, considering your views on "German/European guilt".
Re: Weizsäcker's speech on 40th anniversary of WW2's end (1985)
#7"Guilt is, like innocence, not collective, but personal...The vast majority of today's population were either children then or had not been born. They cannot profess a guilt of their own for crimes that they did not commit. No discerning person can expect them to wear a penitential robe simply because they are Germans. But their forefathers have left them a grave legacy. All of us, whether guilty or not, whether old or young, must accept the past."
Re: Weizsäcker's speech on 40th anniversary of WW2's end (1985)
#8It's educational how Germany's East / West division reverberates in this speech with the special relation to the USSR. The apologetic tone, appeasement, justification.
One can only hope that this would no longer be necessary nowadays.
Re: Weizsäcker's speech on 40th anniversary of WW2's end (1985)
#9It is a famous and well written speech, made at a time when Germany was still a cohesive country and WWII criminals were still alive. I don't see the relevance when we face completely different issues nowadays. European/German guilt has been used to justify a lot of measures that strangely enough always benefited the upper class and the stock market. Perhaps there should be a new Weizsaecker speech.
Different issues, still generally applicable principles. Yes, there should be a new Wiezsaecker speech. I just doubt it would be what you think, considering your views on "German/European guilt".
What should it be in your opinion?
Re: Weizsäcker's speech on 40th anniversary of WW2's end (1985)
#10It is a famous and well written speech, made at a time when Germany was still a cohesive country and WWII criminals were still alive. I don't see the relevance when we face completely different issues nowadays. European/German guilt has been used to justify a lot of measures that strangely enough always benefited the upper class and the stock market. Perhaps there should be a new Weizsaecker speech.
Different issues, still generally applicable principles. Yes, there should be a new Wiezsaecker speech. I just doubt it would be what you think, considering your views on "German/European guilt".
I have German citizenship but have not lived in Germany since my teens, so I'm a bit ignorant of the political situation these days. How would you summarize GP's views on German/European guilt?