Embarrassing non-remembrance
Exactly 79 years ago the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp was liberated, and 19 years ago the United Nations decided to proclaim this date as the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust.
Events are taking place all over the country today. Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, for example, gives a speech at the Ravensbrück women's concentration camp memorial and a service takes place in Berlin at the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. In Mannheim, students remember that children and young people were also victims and persecuted of National Socialism. In Lüneburg, the “Euthanasia” memorial organized a conversation with a man whose sisters were murdered by Nazis. And a gospel choir sings in Nienburg.
Only in Magdeburg is it not remembered as originally thought. State Parliament President Gunnar Schellenberg (CDU) has canceled the state parliament's traditional memorial event for the Sinti and Roma murdered during the Nazi era. At the same time, farmers had registered a demonstration for 2,500 participants and 300 tractors. The argument was that neither the necessary peace nor security could be guaranteed for the commemoration.
The farmers quickly understood the explosiveness of the matter - and quickly postponed their protest to Sunday. Nevertheless, the state parliament's Holocaust commemoration will not take place; it had already been canceled - and is now expected to be rescheduled for March 1st.
What remains is a huge embarrassment - and the question of why the President of the State Parliament didn't simply call the farmers before a decision was made to cancel it.
SS criminal Erich Ehrlinger: The mass murderer who got away
Family business party
The Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) is calling for the founding party conference, and it looks like all members are allowed to come. In any case, 450 are expected at the Kosmos cinema in Berlin, where SED greats like Walter Ulbricht and Erich Honecker once had their places of honor. The SPD later chose Klaus Wowereit as its top candidate, Tokio Hotel filmed a music video on the roof and the broadcaster Pro Sieben held a “pop stars” casting.
One of the most important questions for the newly born party is likely to be how the development of structures in the East is progressing, according to my colleagues Rasmus Buchsteiner and Timo Lehmann, who will report from the party conference. The BSW not only wants to take part in the European elections in June, but also in the three state elections in the east. But this requires competent people on the lists. In addition, local elections will also take place parallel to the European elections; the election proposals must be ready by mid-March.
Sahra Wagenknecht will therefore strive to create a spirit of optimism when she gives her speech at 12 p.m. Husband and party comrade Oskar Lafontaine is also allowed to speak, with a closing statement at 7:30 p.m.
In the end, the new party is, above all, a small family business.
Difficult structure of the Wagenknecht party: professionals wanted
All eyes on the Chancellor
There are even more party meetings this weekend; on Sunday the FDP will meet in Berlin for its European party conference in Kreuzberg. The focus is on a woman who can be heard in the media almost every day, sometimes several times: Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, known for her clear advocacy for more weapons and ammunition for Ukraine, sometimes so demanding that an advisor to the The Chancellor once allegedly said: “Wow, the old woman is annoying.”
The FDP delegates will choose Strack-Zimmmermann as their top candidate on the European list; she should bring the Liberals a respectable result in June. Not an easy task given the current low polls. »Five years ago the FDP got 5.4 percent in the European elections. Anything less than that would be a defeat and could give a boost to those in the party who think participating in the traffic light was a mistake anyway," says my colleague and FDP expert Severin Weiland.
On Sunday, 150 SPD delegates also chose EU Parliament Vice President Katarina Barley as the top candidate for the European elections. “The delegates will definitely follow the application speeches of the candidates for the European list closely,” says my colleague and SPD expert Marina Kormbaki. “But they are likely to be much more curious about what Olaf Scholz has to say.” After his interview in “Zeit,” in which he also revealed subtle traces of self-criticism, the Chancellor can tell his comrades on Sunday what he wants want to do better in the future. Show more empathy? More passion? Scholz's appearance is likely to be the actual topic of the party meeting.
SPD on the brink: The first are moving away from the Chancellor
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Winner of the day...
... are the German national handball team and Jürgen Klopp. The handball players lost against Denmark, but narrowly and with dignity. And anyway: This team's love of playing, its cheerful ambition, these breathtaking battles were a wonderful and valuable pastime in these times, which rarely offer cause for joy and exclamations of happiness. So thank you for that.
And Klopp? The incarnation of a well-worn saying: When things are at their best, you should go. Saying goodbye after this year, after this achievement, admitting that you may no longer have enough strength, acknowledging that it is enough, shows greatness. And Liverpool is right to cry.
Resignation at the end of the season in Liverpool: Klopp's farewell to freedom
The latest reports from the night
Donald Trump must pay $83.3 million in damages to author E. Jean Carroll:
When the jury's verdict was announced, Donald Trump was no longer in the room. The ex-US President has to pay a large sum of millions to the author E. Jean Carroll for defamation. His reaction came later.
US government approves sale of fighter jets to Turkey:
Ankara has linked Turkey's yes to Sweden joining NATO with the delivery of modern fighter jets from the USA. The Biden government now wants to deliver 40 new F-16 aircraft to the country, among other things.
Chancellor Scholz welcomes citizen protests against right-wing extremism:
Olaf Scholz remembered the victims of National Socialism on the occasion of Holocaust Remembrance Day. The Chancellor also praised the Germany-wide demonstrations against right-wing extremism: "Our country is currently on its feet."
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I wish you a relaxing weekend.
Yours, Martin Knobbe, head of the SPIEGEL capital office