[applause] mr. President , president of the german bundestag madam chancellor, president of the federal constitutional court, members of the german bundestag, excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, in the whole of german history there is no greater watershed within the 70th anniversary we are remembering today, the 8th of may 1945. It marks the end of world war ii in europe, collapse of the nazi regime, which had unleashed that war, and the end of the german reich. For 12 years, the nazis had fervently evoked German National unity. As the regime ended, it would not be clear if the germans would ever live in a unified country again. In an historic speech marking the anniversary of the german reichs Unconditional Surrender, the federal president of the day warned the german people not to separate the 8th of may 1945 from the 1st of january, 1933, the day when reich president hindenburg appointed hitler as chancellor. He argued that the 8th of may 1945 should however be recognized as the end of the wrong path of german history, an end that contains the seeds of hope for a Better Future the wrong path to which the man referred did not begin in 1933. Much of the german elite and indeed the society as a whole regarded the first german democracy, the Weimar Republic as the product of germanys defeat in the First World War, as embodied in the german system during the First World War, when academics and writers contrast ed the ideals of the french revolution of 1789 of liberty, equality, and a fraternity, with the german ideas of 1914. That would be the glorification of a strong state with a military as its linchpin, the peoples community, and german socialism. When the final republic parliamentary democracy failed in the spring of 1930 and germany shifted to an authoritarian president ial regime afterward, hitler was able to appeal to the widespread hostility toward western democracy, at the same time exploiting one of the democratic achievements of the reich, now largely robbed of its political effect, general and equal suffrage during the elections. Had been extended to women as well as men since the revolution of 1890. The nazis successes cannot be explained without taking into account the long history of german reservations regarding western democracy, or of the rapid surge in popularity that hitler enjoyed after his socalled seizure of power. His popularity reached such heights that in the words of a british authority, hitler himself became a believer in his own cult by 1936, at the latest. In the course of the Second World War the fuhr was diminished by the war against the soviet union in the winters of 1941 and 1942 and particularly by the defeat in stalingrad by the end of 1943. But it did not die. In fact, it even experienced a brief renewal of sorts, after the failed assassination attempt in 1944. Many now believe that hitler might be allied with providence and only he could save germany. In the midst of the state, the final work before his death in the United States in april 1945, just a few weeks before the end of the war, german philosopher interpreted hitlers political career as a sort of triumph of myth over reason, and this triumph as result of a severe crisis. I quotes, in politics, we are always moving on volcanic soil. We must be prepared for abrupt convulsions and eruptions. In our critical moments of mans social life, the forces that resist the rise of the old mythical conception are no longer sure of themselves. In these moments, the time for myth has come again. For myth has not been vanquished. It is always there, lurking in the dark and waiting for its hour and opportunity. This hour comes as soon as the other bindings of man, socialized for one reason or other, lose their strength and are no longer able to combat the demonic mythical powers. In view of the eruptions of xenophobia we have experienced in recent months and the antisemitic incitements here and in other countries, there is a truly disturbing relevance today. They warned us to heed the real lesson of german history from 1933 until 1945. It is the obligation to reflect in all circumstances the inalienable dignity of every human being. [applause] germanys second defeat in the 20th century was a total defeat and it dealt a far greater blow to german selfconfidence than the defeat of 1918. It was not the case that an overwhelming majority of germans suddenly realized victory in may 1945 as a liberation. Unlike the people for whom this victory brought liberation from german rule and tyranny, to many germans the collapse of the regime meant the collapse of their faith, in the fuhrer, and the collapse of their hopes of a final german victory. The Unconditional Surrender was initially perceived as a liberation only by those germans who had already realized the criminal nature of hitlers rule. In the provisional council of the Protestant Church of germany spoke in october 1945 on the solidarity and guilt of the german people. This met with widespread opposition, even within the church. One sentence in particular was seen as inappropriate confirmation of the assertion of the german collective guilt. To us, endless suffering has been brought down by many peoples and countries. The words of all the crimes against humanity committed by the nazis, the murder of around 6 million European Jews was not expressed in this sentence. Decades would pass before germany could recognize this not only due to the research of jewish scholars, that the holocaust is indeed a central fact of the 20th century german history. At the same time, another realization gradually dawned. The victory that had been won over germany that the sacrifice of allied soldiers and not the least over the red army had in a sense liberated the germans from themselves, liberated in the sense of giving them the chance to break free from political delusions and positions that separated germany from the rest of the democracies. In cultural terms, germany had always been a country [indiscernible] germany has participated in and played a vital role in shaping the separation of powers in the middle ages, beginning with the separation of followed by royal power, so as the emancipatory processes of the enlightenment. However some essential political lessons of the enlightenment ideals of the American Revolution of 1776, and the french revolution of 1789, the ideals of inalienable human rights, the sovereignty of the people, and Representative Democracy had been rejected by influential german people until well into the 20th century. It was only the experience of the german catastrophe of the period from 1933 until 1945 when german opposition to the western political ideals reached its peak that gradually eroded this hostility. The opportunity that arose after 1945 to build a second parliamentary democracy, this time one that would be functional and capable of defending itself, was only offered to part of germany however. The western occupation zones would later be part of west berlin. Those germans living in other parts of the country were denied Political Freedom for 4. 5 decades. The federal republics progressive opening to the culture of the west and emergence of a selfcritical historical conscience were inextricably linked. It took some time for journalistic and political debates to drive these causes forward. The debate about the german empires key role in the development which led to the First World War was a great significance in this context. It took time to overcome the still influential apologists and dissertations of german history. And it took time to counteract widespread tendency to regard the german people as hitlers first victims and for people to observe themselves with any share of responsibility for the wrongs perpetrated in that period. Now there are memorials in many german towns and cities dedicated to the jewish and other victims of national socialism, placed there not by the state, but by civic initiatives and often School Classes which devote themselves to research and history of the local area during the socalled third reich. The process of addressing the war crimes perpetrated by the not tease nazis choked in the german courts was very slow to get off the ground. The began in 1958. As late as 1986 public debate, which has gone down in the annals of west german history, was reviewed among historians. About the place in history of the nazi murders on the jews which left Winston Churchill to observe in a letter to his foreign minister on the 11th of june 1944 that there is no doubt, it is the most horrible crime ever committed in the whole history of the world, and it has been done by machinery by normally civilized man in the name of a great state and one of the leading races of europe. Many germans had to travel a long and painful road before they could look back at this judgment from a former enemy. But if they had not been willing to face up to the unparalleled monstrosity of the holocaust the murders of tens of thousands of people with intellectual disabilities, countless homosexuals, if they have not been willing to accept responsibility for their terrible war crimes committed in the European Countries occupied and ravaged by germany, how could the federal republic of germany ever have become a respected member of the International Community again . It was particularly hard for the million of german refugees to recognize that their suffering was a of military force and to come to terms with [indiscernible] however, after the fall of the berlin wall on the 9th of november 1989, this symbolic event, a peaceful revolution and the culmination of a series of events stretching back to the founding of the independent trade unions in august 1980, when the german question return ed to the political agenda, it was clear to the overwhelming majority of germans that there could only be a reunified germany within its 1945 borders. In other words, the german question could only be resolved when another major question, the polish question, was resolved at the same time. That is exactly what happened with the german polish border treaty of november 1990. These were two trees which recognized treaties which recognized once and for all the formed Binding International law existing german polish border along rivers. The historic significance of the of 1990, the day when the german democratic republic acceeded to the federal republic of germany, is summarized at the ceremony as follows the day has come which for the first time in history the whole of germany takes its lasting place in the circle of western democracies. Unlike the german reich, which met its end on the 8th of may, reunified germany from the start was reintegrated into the supranational organizations such as the atlantic alliance. It is a postclassical relationship which exercises some of its sovereign rights jointly with other Member States with supranatural institutions. German reunification was only possible because it had credibly broken those paths of its political tradition which had stood in the way of development of a westernstyle liberal democracy. That was the basis of germanys second chance. As it was put in july 1990, by who was forced to emigrate by hitler. Germany has not finished the process of confronting its own past, nor will it ever do so. Every generation has their own way of understanding the history as contradictory as germanys. There are many achievements in this history, not least since 1945, about which the citizens of the federal republic of germany can be glad and of which they can be proud. However, accepting ownership of this history must also include a willingness to face up to the dark side of the past. No one expects later generations to plead guilt for crimes which were committed by germans in germany long before they were born. That said, an essential part of assuming responsibility is the determination be conscious of the countrys entire history. [applause] this applies to all germans regardless of whether their forebears lived in germany before 1945 or did not emigrate here until later, it applies to those who have chosen to become germans or who make that choice in the future. [applause] even if germans of no longer wanting to remember the guilt germans incurred after 1933 and especially during the Second World War, they would still be constantly confronted the fact that the victims cannot forget this history. The s. S. And the wehrmacht committed crimes in many places, crimes which would never be erased from the peoples affected. These include the siege and starvation of leningrad, which lasted almost 900 days and cost between 600,000 and 800,000 people their lives. Acceptance of the deaths of more than half a millions of soldier prisoners of war the destruction of the jewish ghetto in warsaw in 1943, and the systematic destruction of the polish capital after the second uprising in october 1944. The names and places are better known in germany than in serbia. These names too, and there are many more, stand for massacres which still cast shadows today. There is no moral justification for not keeping the memory of such atrocities alive in germany or forgetting the obligation to remember these in germany. [applause] the same is true of the inhuman treatment of millions of forced laborers, particularly the eastern workers, especially the jews, for whom forced labor was almost invariably followed by their murder. It is impossible to draw lines [applause] in addition to the danger of forgetting there is another risk , regarding how we address the the darkest time of german history. The danger of it being deliberately raised for political purposes. [indiscernible] preventing an imminent german genocide or another crime against humanity, there is no need on the other hand neither the holocaust nor other nazi crimes or this Second World War in general has given germany the right to look away. The nazis crimes against humanity are not an argument that justifies germany remained on the sidelines when there are compelling reasons to take joint actions in other countries under the International Communities responsibility to protect. [applause] any compartmentalization of the murder of the jews, motivated by daytoday politics, amounts to the trivialization of this problem. A responsible approach to history seeks to facilitate responsible actions in the present. This means firstly that the germans must not allow themselves to be paralyzed by contemplations of their history. Secondly, political decisions must not be held up to be the only true lesson of germanys past. Any attempt to justify a special german morality leads us down the wrong path. [applause] and on the left, germany does still have obligations arising directly or indirectly from german policy in this period from 1933 until 1945. Among the foremost obligations that should be mentioned in this context are the special relations with israel that have developed over the past five decades. Yet in europe as well, the nazi era still cast a shadow, a past that will not pass. Not only did the german reich under hitlers leadership trip on the National Sovereignty and territorial integrity of many European Countries, by entering into the pact and invading poland and attacking the soviet union, it also paved the way for europes division into two blocs, one with freedom, one without, a division which lasted 4. 5 decades. As a result, germany has a special obligation of solidarity with countries for selfdetermination and the peaceful revolutions of 1989 and 1990. The 21st of november 1990, just seven weeks after german reunification, the chancellor of paris was signed in the french charter. All 34 participating states of the conference on the security and cooperation in europe undertook to consolidate and strengthen democracy is the only system of government of our nation. With europe on the verge of a new era, the signatories including the soviet union, made commitments to settle disputes by peaceful means. They reaffirmed the principles of the helsinki act, signed 15 years earlier, which included respect for territorial integrity and political independence and a pledge to refrain from the threat or use of force. Those days represent the end of the postSecond World War era, it is the date of the signing of the charter of paris, the 21st of november, 1990. Some of the hopes, as a new era dawned until 1991, were fulfilled. Others were not. The old european occident, divided as a result of the agreement reached by the three the u. S. , u. K. , and the soviet union at yalta in 1945, has grown together, unlike in 1918, the zone of economic , political, and militarily and stability has emerged. In fact, most of the regions democracies are part of the European Union and the atlantic alliance. However, the addition of a community of peace stretching from vancouver to vladivostok from the Great Alliance of liberal democracy has not become reality. 2014 marked a major watershed. An illegal annexation of crimea has dramatically called into question the continued validity of the principles of the charter of paris and the peaceful european order on which the former cold war enemies had once agreed. [applause] germany is still in ongoing conflict over ukraine. Germany has done everything in its power to safeguard the cohesion of the European Union and the atlantic alliance. At the same time, it has sought in consultation with its allies the rescue as much as possible of the policy of constructive cooperation on which east and west agreed to after the end of the war. There is one thing which it was and is always essential to bear in mind in this context, and is a lesson from german history. Our neighbors in East Central Europe were the victims of germansoviet aggression due to the hitler pact in 1939 and 1940, and are now our partners in European Union and the atlantic alliance. And poland in the baltic republics will never be given the impression by making decisions the heads over which they will pay the price. [a