The Legacy of War

In the first half of the twentieth century, countries and nations were victims of an aggressive and brutal Germany. Since then, German leaders have sought to return to the circle of respected countries through diplomatic, societal, and government actions that offer apology as they remember and commemorate the tragedies inflicted.

German Commemorative Acts

World War I, World War II, and the Holocaust

The German Federal Government’s Site for Remembrance and Commemoration
Sites of Remembrance, 1933-1945

World War I

Chancellor Merkel’s World War I Commemoration
President Gauck’s World War I Commemoration: in Belgium, in Germany, in France.
EU Remembrance of World War I

World War II, Naziism, and the Holocaust

President Joachim Gauck on the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of National Socialism, 27 January 2015

Foreign Minister Steinmeier on Holocaust Commemoration Day

German Bundestag Remembrance Service 70th Anniversary of End of World War II

Chancellor Merkel on 70th Anniversary of Liberation of Auschwitz

Chancellor Merkel at 70^th Anniversary of Liberation of Dachau Concentration Camp

Foreign Minister Steinmeier on the 70^th Anniversary of the Liberation of Sachsenhausen

Remembering Germany’s Former Victims

Poland

German-Polish Joint Cabinet Consultations

Chancellor Merkel on 25^th Anniversary of German-Polish Reconciliation Mass

President Gauck’s  Warsaw Uprising Exhibition Speech

President Gauck on the Anniversary of the Outbreak of World War II in Poland

Foreign Minister Steinmeier on the Anniversary of the Outbreak of World War II in Poland

German Bundestag on the Anniversary of the Outbreak of World War II in Poland

Russia

President Gauck’s Soviet Memorial Cemetery Speech

Chancellor Merkel Remembering World War Victims in Moscow
Foreign Minister Steinmeier on 70^th Anniversary of End of World War II and Russia

Czech Republic

President Gauck in Lidice, in Lidice, and in Prague.
President Gauck at Theresienstadt