Germany Breaks the Silence: Historic Bundestag Speeches Confront Russian Myths
On the 80th anniversary of Nazi Germany’s surrender, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Bundestag President Julia Klöckner delivered powerful speeches that may mark a turning point in Europe’s understanding of Russia’s war in Ukraine and its Soviet legacy, The Gaze reports
Steinmeier directly dismantled the Kremlin’s use of “anti-fascism” as a justification for aggression:
“No, this war is not a fight against fascism. It is an imperialist act of aggression. Russia’s war is not liberation — it is a crime.”
He condemned Moscow’s cynical distortion of history, stressing that fascism is not just a label, but a specific historic reality tied to totalitarianism, racism, genocide, and antisemitism — and that none of this justifies today’s Russian actions.
“Russia’s war against Ukraine is not a fight against fascism. It is imperial aggression. It is a falsification of history to justify the gravest injustices and crimes.”
Even more striking was the speech by Bundestag President Julia Klöckner, who broke decades of silence.
She spoke of the mass rapes, torture, and violence committed by Soviet soldiers in 1945, often seen as “liberators” in Soviet mythology.
Also, she reminded the public that women were not only victims but rebuilders of postwar Germany — a memory too often excluded.
She pointed out that in Ukraine today, similar atrocities are being committed under the same narratives.
Historian Antony Beevor has estimated that over 2 million German women were victims of Soviet sexual violence in 1945.
“Many Soviet soldiers regarded all Germans, including women and children, as culpable and unworthy of pity.”
The speeches shattered the myth of the “brother nation” and drew parallels between the behavior of the Red Army in Berlin in 1945 and Russian forces in Bucha, Izium, and Kherson: irrational brutality, the targeting of civilians, and domination through humiliation.
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