German Chancellor Commemorates The 85th Anniversary of Kristallnacht and Calls Anti-Semitic Incidents in Germany a Disgrace to The Country
Today, during a ceremony commemorating the 85th anniversary of Kristallnacht, the night of anti-Jewish pogroms during the Nazi era, Chancellor Olaf Scholz promised Jews that they would "never again" suffer from anti-Semitism in Germany, Tagesspiegel reports.
"I am deeply outraged and ashamed," the chancellor said on Thursday, speaking at the Beth Zion synagogue in Berlin.
The promise to "never again" tolerate anti-Semitism "is a promise we must now fulfil," the chancellor said at the Beth Zion synagogue in the heart of Berlin, alongside German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and the chairman of the Central Committee of Jews in Germany, Josef Schuster.
Against the backdrop of a resurgence of anti-Semitic acts in the aftermath of the war between Israel and Hamas in Germany, as well as across Europe, Chancellor Scholz wanted to reaffirm this promise "on which democratic Germany rests."
"All forms of anti-Semitism poison our society," said Olaf Scholz. And he promises to "prosecute all those who support terrorism and are anti-Semites."
Chancellor Scholz also reminded that once the new citizenship law comes into force, no anti-Semitic person can be naturalised as a German.
This warning came in the wake of numerous anti-Semitic incidents committed by Muslims and people of Arab descent in Germany.
In Berlin, in the Neukölln district with a large population of Arab and Turkish origin, on 7 October, the Samidoun network distributed cakes to celebrate the "victory of the resistance" after the surprise attack by Hamas terrorists on Israel. Samidoun has been banned in Germany.
Recently, the Federal Police announced that it had counted about 2,000 crimes related to the war in the Middle East.
Earlier, Germany's largest daily newspaper Bild issued an editorial address to German citizens who care about democratic values. The manifesto titled "Germany, we have a problem!" consists of 50 points and covers various aspects of public life, including respect for the Constitution and language.
"Anyone who sees our constitution and our legal system as a collection of non-binding recommendations should leave Germany as soon as possible.
Anyone who wants to live here permanently should learn German. Only when we speak the same language will we understand each other," the manifesto says, among other things.
The manifesto is addressed to people "who are fighting against our way of life. Those who rejoice in the murder of innocent citizens. Those who teach their children to hate others."
As a reminder, Ukraine has long-faced a similarly destructive attitude from Russian terrorists and occupiers. For example, in order to destroy Ukrainian independence and national identity, the Russian aggressor seeks to destroy the Ukrainian language.
In the temporarily occupied territories, Russia is eliminating Ukrainian-language education, banning the use of Ukrainian in documents, and destroying Ukrainian-language books. This is a real ethnocide of Ukrainians that is still being carried out by the Russian invader.
Today, 9 November, Ukraine celebrates the Day of Ukrainian Writing and Language.