A place that sends out the message never again. And. The entire interior ministries of ministers of of the German Federal states are meeting right now to discuss ways of combating hate speech on the internet thats one of the concrete ways in which germany is trying to respond not only by getting the 60000000 euro as was her to this fund in fact each of the speakers we heard today talked about the importance of memory and the importance of keeping memory alive if we not join Thomas Barrow who is at the site and. Tell us how did you experience this is starting this is by chance some echo that. I think this speech buying a miracle will be one that will be studied for a long time when you study how germany deals with its historic responsibility how germany deals with its culture of remembrance it was a very powerful speech indeed which had in my opinion 2 very clear strands on the one hand and glamor call repeated on various occasions the words honoring and remembering stressing that germanys responsibility is an absolutely vital part of germanys identity as a nation but as john just said that 2nd strand is also understanding that this has a relevance in the world that we live in today that this is not only about remembering and honoring but its also about understanding how exact past can have an influence today and sending a warning about some of the problems that the world is now currently experiencing im glad merkel mentioned specifically for example anti semitism or revisionism 2 key elements and that explains why Angela Merkel focused on these 2 issues on the 100 obviously remembering as john said im going to michael mentioned the word shame on the other hand stressing that its not only about remembering its also about considering what this place here what our streets birchenough can teach younger generations can teach all generations about things that should not be repeated and she also said almost that she said its not easy for me to be standing in front of all the fields and she talked about what what if you refer to a deep sense of shame to stand there and to know that germany was behind the atrocities which were committed there how do you think legacy visit will get perceived by the few survivors who are left and the relatives of victims. Im going to specifically mentioned the survivors and the role that they play on this particularly important for auschwitz birkenau because there are not many survivors left on this memorial but also other former concentration camps have been grappling with that issue how to preserve that memory how to preserve those elements of what happened here for future generations when those that experienced it directly are no longer there and thats why the speech by Angela Merkel but also why some of the other speeches that we heard today are remarkably important not only as i say for auschwitz birkenau but in general for the idea of how you remember and how you deal with what happened not only not because now but and also some of the other former concentration camps as well and until intending to you know its taken unlimited 14 years to visit this site tell us a little bit about this site and why was it so important that she visited auschwitz birkenau camp there shes visited many other camps before will auschwitz has become synonymous with the shoah was the attempt by nazi germany to exterminate the the jewish the jews of europe it was a complex it wasnt a simply one camp it consisted of 3 camps and initially it was polish Army Barracks that were taken over by the s. S. And they extended it to a 2nd camp or shifts to it was a labor camp as well as a concentration camp in other words a concentration camps incidentally i should say in passing were not invented of course by the germans they were invented in fact by the by the british in the anger of boer war the 1st construction camps concentration camps in the sense of bringing people together civilians in a conflict situation war situation and so that you can actually contain control them as but behind barbed wire fence or whatever but in addition to being a concentration camp it was also auschwitz also it was a labor camp there was a philosophy to work. People to death and that was not a byproduct of something coincidental that happened it was part of the philosophy to bring people there and to work them to death and that is why the motto above the gates that work liberates must die is particularly cynical of course and then the 3rd element which the with the extension of the camp to the birkenau camp remember this is on an area of some 40 square kilometers a huge area the birkenau camp was extensively a death camp so that the selection torrijos in from a selection that took place at the ramps when the when the cattle trucks came in with the with the jews on board that 2 thirds of the people with or to be not fit enough to work to be worked to death so they were sent regionally to the gas chambers and birkenau and then the 3 in and then cremated in the adjacent toria so this is a particularly a particularly viable example of the of the course of the concentration camps but there are dozens hundreds of other former concentration camps in germany austria german occupied europe and of course they are the suffering was no less there had because it was not certain just realized it was still the suffering human suffering of course of the individuals is is absolutely comparable and she has made visits there is of course from german chancellor politicians regularly do you know and we did hear this really moving testimony from one of the auschwitz survivors that as his ball done about the cough skinned he was just 12 years old when he came into the camp and he told us about what he went through at that time let me return to you a tall muslim the things i did mention of these camps are unborn instead of 3 but she was very keen to make a distinction and say very clearly these were german camps operated by germans how important do you think was this issue that she made that for poland. That is an important distinction its also an important distinction for poland because this has been an issue where polish officials have been very careful about theyve been theyve insisted time and time again that yes those camps may now be on polish territory but that they were carried out in nazi occupied poland theyve made that distinction time and time again and its one that polish officials constantly try to mention so in the interview of german polish relations that acknowledgment by german chancellor the fact that she stressed that its particularly important and i would say is one that was obviously carefully prepared today to make sure that its not only about the past its not only about what weve been discussing now its also about german polish relations and how those relations can be strengthened when it comes in particular to this culture of remembrance and both of you have resisted a 2nd strand in the narrative today and which is that these seventies come at a time when this seeing a rise of antisemitism not just all over europe but including here in germany john asking you how important was that that gentleman johnson spoke a lot about the veterans of these events and the importance of the men being what had happened for today i think its hugely important you said earlier and hes and i thought this is an interesting point there its just between the way the nazi past was dealt with in communist east germany and and in a more positive way in a creative way in west germany but there was a particular. Strange Historical Development it didnt happen automatically after the war it happened because the postwar the 1st postwar generation confronted death parents and their grandparents it was a Grassroots Movement with what exactly they had done during the 2nd world war that was a turning point and theres been recently a very interesting book written by an american philosopher susan naman who works for the Einstein Institute called learning from the germans in which she compares. Situation the way that that generation of germans the grass roots of german west German Society confronted the past and the way that in america for example that the history of slavery has not been confronted and so this is a very very important legacy that that 1st generation of postwar germans have left to their country unfortunately with the passage of time there is not the same urgency there is not doesnt seem to be the same same concern among the other generations as we get further and further away historically. It doesnt seem to be the same kind of concern to keep this memory alive at the say on the on the other hand there is even a rise of antisemitism as weve seen right across europe also in germany we saw an attack only a couple of months ago and both of the czechs thank god on a synagogue in hama quite close to belin and only last week there was an incident that came to light of a member of the armed forces who has rightwing neo nazi contacts who of course will be drummed out of the army of they are they are proved to be correct so there are these very worrying concerns also in germany they dont know what is what was your impression or what johnson love america had to say about the rise of intolerance them including at the symbolism in germany and what the country is doing to combat that. Im rita they have been questions as to why Angela Merkel decided to come right now to auschwitz the end of her in power and i think that has to do with that rise of anti semitism that has to do with this reality that were experiencing in europe the attack in halle that john mentioned there are other instances as well that are very worrisome but when you understand the context why im glad merkel decided to come to auschwitz birkenau right now that is the answer is not only as i say about talking about the pot its also about sending a message for what is happening now and for the future and im going to merkel now dont not only anglo merkel but all german officials are particularly concerned about that rising antisemitism in the country it is not only a perceived rise they have been starts on studies revealing that there is an increase in antisemitic attacks and instances in the country and that is something a german officials have been trying to deal with one very important measure that was taken a few years ago was the appointment of germanys 1st anti semitism commissioner and that has followed other measures that were taken by german officials for example increasing the number of personnel to dealing with these kind of issues trying to focus also on the online world and how people connect in the online world when it comes to dealing with antisemitism all those things are very important for germany and that was one of the signals that im going to one of the messages that anglo merkel wanted to send right here today national spoken out and a final comment from you john now im going to make it also what struck me she mentioned the jews who were the main victims of the people who were killed in auschwitz but also mentioned other victims yes well we have a phenomenon. That psychologists call displacement and its where there are big huge problems like the Climate Crisis or worries about finance and so on that people tend to focus on something they think is manageable and that is one of the explanations for the rise of xenophobia in. Eastern europe according to its many sources sociologists that people think its something they can cope with and that of course is the scapegoat whether it is the minorities of blacks or the reason is jews or other minority groups like john by thank you very much for your analysis and comments here in the studio and thank you also to Thomas Sparrow who is at the auschwitz birkenau camp for you and to sing reporting and analysis from this on the set of monies taking place that youve been watching special coverage coming to you on d w news about the Memorial Service is taking place at the auschwitz birkenau concentration camp thank you very much for your company again and at the top of the out. Bursts. Home games of species. Worth saying to. You those are big changes and most start with small steps. Little boy ideas tell stories of creative people and innovative projects around the world. News that could. Use to bring a solution and for station. Community interactive content teaching the next generation about environmental protection. Using all channels available to inspire people to get action and more determined to build something here for the next generation the idea is for the environment series of global 3000 on t. W. And online. Video to joy from by night symphony one of us from. Recognizable pieces of music in the walls. Were going to hear a lot more all beethoven in the next 12 months as 2020 is the 250th anniversary of his birth and will be celebrated in a big way throughout the year in his hometown of ball also coming up today we have an exclusive interview with one of the great german film directors bama household will receive a Lifetime Achievement award at the european film awards this week. But we begin with beethoven 2020 which was launched in the western german city of bomb all mines day in advance of a spectacular year of concerts exhibitions on the vents all about one of the greatest classical composers of all time was beethovens birthplace and where he spent the 1st 20 years of his life now d. W. Is heavily involved in the celebrations ill be talking about that as the launch of a special d. W. Classical music you tube channel with my colleague aging kennedy so this. Its not dropping role its not pop music but its very music that is so energetic and so full of emotions hes a living example of his one so for human creativity in the face of adversity the talk is of beethoven good flick than 250 years on from his birth the whole world is celebrating his musical genius. Deutsche avello is 1st in the line of well wishers t w unveiled its extensive Multimedia Program for the beethoven year in the great composers birthplace of. The national. It will kick off with a focus on his most famous composition beethovens 9th symphony for the world looks at a musical masterpiece that has transcended all borders. B. To learn to w. We stand for freedom and this is something which brought us together and also that we have a headquarter in bonn and beethoven was born in bonn so i think its a good match. Another d. W. Film called the sound of nature focuses on the Pastoral Symphony beethovens on march tonight shot the film visits musicians on 5 continents composing music dealing with environmentalists issues. That. Tool if we use it properly we contains the world this film had its premiere on world environment day. Young it often is all about discovering that the art needs to reflect a new kind of society that emerges exactly. At the time when pizza was born with the french revolution a World Without beethoven is the 3rd major d. W. Production Sarah Willis Horn player with but in film that examines the legacy of the musical revolutionary and asked where would we be without the great composer. Us jazz great Wynton Marsalis is one of the International Stars she told so you didnt like that. I love the. New perspectives from d. W. In beethoven you know 2020. College you go drink out of the joins me now a trinity of treats. Theres lots more as well but do you have a personal favorite difficult to pick out just one but for me beethovens 9th symphony for the world is a very intriguing project by the Award Winning documentary filmmaker Christian Berger our esteemed colleague probe the special meaning of beethovens 9th as you know the choral symphony that incorporates a version of schillers ode to joy a plea for freedom and peace and one of the protagonists in this documentary is greek russian conducted teodor credits this Current System of course something of a visionary and red bull in the beethoven most him self he says he would use the 9th to show an alien to make human civilization so special and he has a very emotional take on it as we can hear it think listen. And to where it says and his orchestra will perform all of beethovens symphonies over the course of bikes hovan year and arch see the documentary ourselves our great review by the way its wonderful. Its going to be on d. W. On the 17th of december which is actually the official start of the year also doctors found another way to celebrate the night yes we have a very important announcement now weve launched a new you tube channel d. W. Classical music this is going to have a whole range of fantastic content forget james bond for the moment forget the new james bond trailer the most important trailer today is this one. Heres the deal germany on the one hand home. Of Classical Music scene on a list with cast cool music. Over brahms. The list is endless and on the other hand youve got d w of. Documentaries featuring all the classical stars and so this was a perfect match. A match made in heaven were going to have plenty of stars were going to have some familiar faces going to see willis of. Music. Power music a maestra a whole load of new content interviews concerts and behind the scenes features and you mentioned a lot of the power of one of the great up and coming family conductors ive actually seen there is already a load of new stuff being loaded on to the channel today thats fine and as an example of the kind of thing that you can see on the channel along has been out and about and at the music fest braman she met up with each will be percussion is the marching grouping and after finding out a bit about. Musical methods and instrumentation alone drew was even brave enough to have a go herself so here is an exclusive musical. Theyll have to watch all the you tube channel which is a treasure trove of Classical Music fans are already as there will be other documentaries uploaded on to the channel bit by bit by next year you wont be able to tear yourself away from the available bear that steve is Classical Music you tube channel Adrian Kennedy as always thanks very much. Then i have saw god has written and directed over 70 feature films and documentaries from our house to hollywood he created milestones of new german cinema in the seventys and eightys with fitz corralled nosferatu and has a polish olfa