Every year, Russia commemorates its soldiers who died in World War II in Berlin. The date is getting closer and there is unrest in Berlin. A propaganda show on the international stage is feared.
In the Ukraine the Russian army fights mercilessly against the civilian population, shells large cities with rockets and artillery, abducts and kills. Those in power tried to justify the attack Wladimir Putin the “Great Patriotic War” against Hitler’s Germany as a reference and pretext: the Russian military only marched in to “denazify” the Ukraine and prevent a “genocide”. In his speeches, the dictator repeatedly evokes the alleged continuity of the Soviet struggle in World War II with today’s war of aggression. Russian propaganda stokes in Berlin now worry.
The memorial in Treptower Park
Because every year on May 9th, the end of the Second World War, which Germany started, is commemorated at the Soviet memorial in Treptower Park. The Russian Ambassador and the Ambassador of Belarus lay wreaths, and representatives of the German Federal Foreign Office take part. Traditionally, left-wing politicians like Dietmar Bartsch and Gregory Gysi at. Two years ago, Saxony was also prime minister Michael Kretschmer to guest. It was intended as a sign of international understanding. In the afternoon, thousands make a pilgrimage for individual commemoration without an official organizer, but there are numerous organized groups among them.
Commemoration at the 2020 memorial: Minister of State in the Foreign Office Niels Annen (SPD, 2nd from right) with Russia’s Ambassador Sergej J. Netschajew (2nd from left), Left Party Chairman Dietmar Bartsch (centre) and Saxony’s Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU, r. ). (Source: Janine Schmitz/photothek.net/imago images)
Given the war in Ukraine that has been going on since 2014, the commemorative events in recent years have already led to considerable diplomatic upset. Ukraine has not participated since then.
The then governing mayor Michael Mueller (SPD) therefore wanted to establish a separate commemoration event on May 2 together with the ambassadors of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus in order to prevent “a monopoly of commemoration by the Russian Federation”.
Commemoration became a revisionist celebration
However, the Ukrainian ambassador Andrij Melnyk did not accept this invitation from the Berlin Senate for the new format on May 2, 2021 either, as the Russian embassy was involved. In view of the war that had been going on for years for understandable reasons. In an interview with the “Berliner Zeitung” on the last anniversary, Russia’s Ambassador Sergey J. Nechaev claimed that the alleged exercise had ended. In fact, however, it was a question of preparing for a war of aggression.
In addition, the parades in the afternoon that followed the laying of the wreath in particular served a Soviet nostalgia that Russia is actively promoted. Alleged peace initiatives with connections to Russian foreign policy, leftists, DKP, Putin fans and rockers loyal to the Kremlin increasingly took over the day and the memorial. The date, which is considered the highest national holiday in Russia, established itself more and more as a revisionist celebration of Russian greatness in Treptower Park.
![Two former Soviet generals with a member of the Night Wolves biker group: the commemoration gave way to more and more Russian propaganda. (Source: imago images/Hohlfeld)]( "Two former Soviet generals with a member of the Night Wolves biker group: the commemoration gave way to more and more Russian propaganda. (Source: imago images/Hohlfeld)")
Two former Soviet generals with a member of the Night Wolves biker group: the commemoration gave way to more and more Russian propaganda. (Source: Hohlfeld/imago images)
The opposition in the Berlin House of Representatives is calling for this to end for the time being this year. “The Senate shouldn’t invite people to commemorate it, as it has in the past few years,” said Stefan Förster from the FDP to t-online. “During the war in Ukraine, such an event with the Russian ambassador is unthinkable.” Other organized gatherings should also be prevented to avoid images like those seen in previous years.
Because what was previously an obscure event with Soviet symbolism and Stasi uniforms could lead to considerable international upheaval this year. In the middle of Berlin, thousands of people waved Russian flags in front of the monumental backdrop of the memorial. Military nostalgia defined the picture around every corner. A staging that would fit in perfectly with current Russian propaganda.
CDU: “Prevent abuse of the day of remembrance”
“Human decency forbids politically exploiting the day of liberation from the Nazi regime,” said the CDU parliamentary group leader Kai Wegner t-online. “If war propaganda is now carried out on the backs of the victims of Putin’s terrorist attacks, that’s another dimension and simply inhuman.” It is important “to prevent the history-forgotten misuse of this day of remembrance” and to repeatedly emphasize solidarity with Ukraine.
At the request of t-online, the Berlin Senate Chancellery said that the Senate was not planning a commemoration event this year. There is no knowledge of events planned by the Russian Embassy or private initiatives, but they are possible without an approval process. The Senate Chancellery was also not involved in the celebrations of the Russian Embassy on February 23 at the memorial in the Tiergarten.
Barely 24 hours after the Kremlin recognized the so-called People’s Republics in eastern Ukraine, the embassy in Berlin celebrated the “Day of Defender of the Fatherland,” which Lenin introduced in 1922 to honor the Soviet army. The date comes as part of a series of “Russian Military Glory Days” to commemorate the victories of the Russian military. A day later it invaded Ukraine.
In view of the Russian aggression, Dietmar Bartsch, the parliamentary group leader of the Left Party in the Bundestag, is now distancing himself from the celebrations on May 9th. When asked by t-online, he replied: “I assume that the left-wing faction will lay a memorial wreath at the memorial in Treptower Park on the day of liberation, completely independently of the Russian embassy. I would take part in that if necessary.” The day of liberation is the usual date in Germany, one day earlier, on May 8th. If the Russian flags aren’t already waving in front of the memorial.