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AfD wreath removal sparks clash at Hitler assassination plot commemoration
🇩🇪 Germany /Culture & Society

AfD wreath removal sparks clash at Hitler assassination plot commemoration

From Die Zeit · () German

Translated from German, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

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  • A confrontation occurred at a German government commemoration event for the July 20, 1944, assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler.
  • Tobias Korenke, grandnephew of resistance fighter Dietrich Bonhoeffer, attempted to remove an Alternative for Germany (AfD) party wreath, leading to a scuffle and damage to the wreath.
  • Federal Family Minister Karin Prien delivered the main speech, emphasizing that democracy relies on citizens' responsibility and courage, not just institutions.

Tensions flared at a German government commemoration event marking the anniversary of the July 20, 1944, assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler. The incident occurred at the German Resistance Memorial Center in Berlin when Tobias Korenke, the grandnephew of resistance fighter Dietrich Bonhoeffer, tried to remove a wreath laid by the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. Security personnel intervened, and the wreath was damaged in the ensuing scuffle.

Many descendants, and I am one of them, feel great anger when we see the AfD laying wreaths here. We will not accept this.

— Tobias KorenkeKorenke's reaction to the AfD wreath at the commemoration event.

Korenke expressed strong disapproval, stating, "Many descendants, and I am one of them, feel great anger when we see the AfD laying wreaths here. We will not accept this." A spokesperson for the AfD parliamentary group confirmed the party had provided a wreath and noted their invitation as a represented party in the Bundestag.

She stands here also as a citizen and as a descendant of victims and survivors of the Shoah.

— Karin PrienFederal Family Minister Karin Prien's statement about her personal connection to the historical context.

Federal Family Minister Karin Prien (CDU) delivered the main address. Speaking also as a descendant of Holocaust victims and survivors, she shared that her great-grandmother was murdered at the Sobibor extermination camp. Prien stressed that resistance movements like that of July 20 demonstrate that democracy depends on citizens' ethical responsibility and willingness to act, even when inconvenient. "Freedom tomorrow is decided by our actions today," she stated, emphasizing that heroes are not born but learn to take responsibility.

Democracy is not only supported by institutions. It lives from an ethic of civic responsibility - from people who are willing to take responsibility for the community, even when it is inconvenient.

— Karin PrienPrien's remarks on the importance of citizen responsibility for democracy.

The July 20, 1944, plot involved Wehrmacht officers, led by Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, attempting to assassinate Hitler with a bomb to overthrow the Nazi regime. Stauffenberg and three others were executed that same evening at the Bendlerblock courtyard, now the site of the Federal Ministry of Defence.

The history of resistance shows us, people are not born heroes, they learn to take responsibility long before freedom and human dignity are at stake.

— Karin PrienPrien's reflection on the nature of heroism and responsibility.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Die Zeit in German. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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