Germany: army goes pink

by Erik Kirschbaum (text) - images - various @ links. Sun May 08, 2005 20:14 berlin

BERLIN (Reuters) - A neo-Nazi march in Berlin was stopped by thousands of anti-fascist demonstrators on Sunday after a tense standoff that overshadowed Germany's ceremonies marking the end of World War Two in Europe 60 years ago.

Berlin police said 6,000 demonstrators opposed to the far-right National Democratic Party (NPD) crowded into streets around Alexanderplatz square where 3,300 right-wing extremists gathered to protest what they called a German "cult of guilt".

Eager to prevent the violence that flares when leftists try to stop far-right marches, authorities first ordered the NPD to stay at Alexanderplatz behind a buffer zone of barricades and police. The NPD later decided to abandon the march.

Holding one of their biggest rallies ever, the far-right then stayed at the square. Speakers rejected the view that Germany was liberated by the end of the war on May 8, 1945.

Most Germans see May 8 as a day of liberation. The motto of the anti-Nazi rally borrowed the word for "Thanks" in Russian: "Spasibo -- We say thank you." Some carried banners reading "Fascism never again" and "War never again".

The NPD, citing constitutional free speech guarantees, wanted to march through the landmark Brandenburg Gate, a symbol of unification, and past a new Holocaust memorial. The city government said "no" to that, but approved another route nearby.

"This was not a day of 'liberation' but a day of defeat for Germany and it's nothing to celebrate," said NPD leader Udo Voigt. The extremists with shaven heads and black clothing were required to pass through tight police screening to the rally.

"A lot of Germans are tired of hearing May 8 called a day of 'liberation'," Voigt told Reuters, criticising the anti-fascists as "intolerant". "Almost every German has relatives expelled from the east or a grandfather who was killed. We're here to mourn the millions of Germans killed in the war."

In a speech in parliament, President Horst Koehler said most Germans were relieved "and numbed" when the war ended.

"There are unfortunately incorrigibles still among us who want a return to the racism and right-wing extremism," Koehler said. "But they don't have a chance. The vast majority of Germans will make sure that our democracy remains vigilant."

Koehler also said the Nazis destroyed Germany's honour.

"We feel disgust and contempt for those guilty of these crimes against humanity who dishonoured our country," he said. "Germany is today a different country than it was 60 years ago."

CELEBRATIONS ACROSS EUROPE

Across Europe, there are ceremonies marking the end of the war in Europe on Sunday and Monday. U.S. President George W. Bush said in a speech in the Netherlands the lesson of the war was: democracy brings peace.

Commemorations to mark the end of the war that cost at least 50 million lives worldwide were also taking place in London, Paris and Washington. The war in the Pacific ended three months later and the Allies mark Victory over Japan on August 15.

In Paris on Sunday, President Jacques Chirac laid a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier under the Arc de Triomphe, before leaving for Moscow to celebrate the war victory.

Prince Charles led low-key commemorations in Britain, laying a wreath at the national war memorial in London. Britain plans bigger events later in the year to mark the end of the war.

Chirac, Bush and dozens of other world leaders including German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder will join President Vladimir Putin for the celebrations in Moscow on Monday.

The Allies agreed to celebrate victory on May 9, 1945, but reporters broke the news of Germany's surrender prematurely, prompting mass rejoicing on May 8. The Soviet Union kept to the agreed date and Russia still marks victory in Europe on May 9.

In Poland on Sunday, there was sober reflection on how the war divided the continent as well as the millions killed.

Prime Minister Marek Belka told a ceremony in Warsaw: "Tomorrow in Moscow, leaders of biggest countries will pay homage to all soldiers of the anti-Hitler coalition. We want to believe that truth will be spoken about the heroism of the war years but also of the betrayal of the postwar years."

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told his cabinet: "Sixty years after the end of the worst war in human history, one cannot underestimate the importance of the victory to the entire world and particularly to the Jewish people."

Reuters
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other material

http://morgenpost.berlin1.de/desk/716066.html
http://www.welt.de/data/2005/05/09/716310.html
http://www.netzeitung.de/spezial/achtermai/337607.html
http://www.netzeitung.de/deutschland/337388.html
http://www.heute.de/ZDFheute/inhalt/12/0,3672,2295884,00.html
http://www.welt.de/data/2005/05/09/716309.html
http://www.welt.de/data/2005/05/09/716308.html
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1577385,00.html
http://www.n24.de/politik/inland/index.php/n2005050816001600002
http://www.kurier.at/ausland/979799.php
http://www.ftd.de/pw/de/6082.html

look at the pics from the article above this comment:

http://germany.indymedia.org/2005/05/115427.shtml

berlin May 8th 2005

berlin May 8th 2005

berlin May 7th 2005

more than berlin XXI century

by oops..... Sun May 08, 2005 17:45

;-)