Day of memory derided as hollow
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Germany remembered the victims of Nazism yesterday with a mixture of humility and, in the words of one opposition MP, "hollow pathos".
Marking "Holocaust Day" on the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the two houses of parliament held a joint session, the German flag flew on government buildings and schools had a special history lesson.
It was a solemn occasion, disturbed only by the clamour of East European Jews who have yet to be be compensated, groups representing the anti-Nazi resistance and the enduring row over a gigantic tombstone that is supposed to be erected in memory of almost 6 million Jews.
"The Day of Commemoration is in danger of turning into a farce," declared Green MP Volker Beck. "Many victims are asking: `which victims are being commemorated today?'"
He replied: "Not the tens of thousands who deserted from the Wehrmacht". For five decades Mr Beck has tried in vain to decriminalise soldiers who had refused to follow orders. Deserters remain traitors under the laws, and are thus deprived of a war pension.
And Germany has paid only partial compensation to many East European Jews, and none at all to survivors in the Baltic republics.
That is not to say that the German state has suddenly become tight- fisted. A Holocaust memorial is to be erected in the centre of Berlin, engraving the names of known Jewish victims on a slab of granite the size of a football pitch. But many Jews feel that the government should pay more attention both to the victims, and to the preservation of the camps where they suffered, than to erecting artificial shrines.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments