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"On Point"
MINSK, 21 March (BelTA) – Lessons of the past have long been forgotten in Germany, and history is taught at school in such a way that people do not feel responsible for it, Deputy Chairman of the Germany-Russia Friendship Society Thorsten Rexin said in a recent episode of BelTA’s YouTube project “V teme” [On Point].
“I have visited many memorial complexes, I have been to Rzhev, to Volgograd. I have also visited military cemeteries. For personal reasons. My grandfather was a soldier, he died in the war and was buried near Leningrad. I found this cemetery and visited it,” Thorsten Rexin said.
The German called the First and Second World Wars the most tragic chapters in European history. “These events should not happen again. I have read Vasily Grossman's book Stalingrad and a book by a German writer about Stalingrad. These books tell how Soviet and German soldiers felt about that war. It's simple: war is evil, a bloodthirsty way way to make money, and we must fight against wars. My position on this issue is the following: it is time for Germany to stop feeling an eternal guilt and embrace a sense of responsibility. Responsibility for peace in Europe. This is its historical mission, given the fact that both wars were started by the Germans,” he believes.
According to Thorsten Rexin, Germany must now acknowledge its responsibility for peace. And not just acknowledge it, but bear this responsibility and do everything possible to promote peace. “To do this, we need to embrace the historical truth. And do it publicly, at the sites of war crimes - in Stalingrad, in Minsk, in Khatyn, in Moscow. People in Germany have long left history behind. They do not remember the past, they do not talk about it, history is not taught at school in a way that would make people feel responsible for it. I think this is wrong,” added Thorsten Rexin.
To illustrate his point, he cited the following example. “There is a museum in the former Dachau concentration camp near Munich. There are information signs telling visitors about Nazi crimes. However, the way they put it makes you feel like Nazism descended on Germany suddenly, like a hurricane. The museum does not say a word about the reasons for the rise of fascism and the way it gained traction in society. This is memoryholing, and this is exactly what we are seeing today,” Thorsten Rexin concluded.
“I have visited many memorial complexes, I have been to Rzhev, to Volgograd. I have also visited military cemeteries. For personal reasons. My grandfather was a soldier, he died in the war and was buried near Leningrad. I found this cemetery and visited it,” Thorsten Rexin said.
The German called the First and Second World Wars the most tragic chapters in European history. “These events should not happen again. I have read Vasily Grossman's book Stalingrad and a book by a German writer about Stalingrad. These books tell how Soviet and German soldiers felt about that war. It's simple: war is evil, a bloodthirsty way way to make money, and we must fight against wars. My position on this issue is the following: it is time for Germany to stop feeling an eternal guilt and embrace a sense of responsibility. Responsibility for peace in Europe. This is its historical mission, given the fact that both wars were started by the Germans,” he believes.
According to Thorsten Rexin, Germany must now acknowledge its responsibility for peace. And not just acknowledge it, but bear this responsibility and do everything possible to promote peace. “To do this, we need to embrace the historical truth. And do it publicly, at the sites of war crimes - in Stalingrad, in Minsk, in Khatyn, in Moscow. People in Germany have long left history behind. They do not remember the past, they do not talk about it, history is not taught at school in a way that would make people feel responsible for it. I think this is wrong,” added Thorsten Rexin.
To illustrate his point, he cited the following example. “There is a museum in the former Dachau concentration camp near Munich. There are information signs telling visitors about Nazi crimes. However, the way they put it makes you feel like Nazism descended on Germany suddenly, like a hurricane. The museum does not say a word about the reasons for the rise of fascism and the way it gained traction in society. This is memoryholing, and this is exactly what we are seeing today,” Thorsten Rexin concluded.
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