MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Germany honors military officers who 70 years ago attempted to kill Hitler
President Gauck said events of July 20, 1944 were a reminder to Germans about the importance of “bravely standing up for our values.” 
Guests attend a ceremony to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the attempted assassination of Adolf Hitler at the courtyard of the Bendler Block, a part of the German Defense Ministry (Pic AP) Ceremonies have been held in Germany to mark the 70th anniversary of a failed 20 July 1944 attempt by military officers to kill Adolf Hitler. The conspirators are now regarded as German patriots for their actions.
Speaking at the main remembrance ceremony in Berlin on Sunday, President Joachim Gauck said that the events of July 20, 1944 were a reminder to Germans about the importance of “bravely standing up for our values.”
He also said that Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg and his co-conspirators were true role models, particularly when it comes to “the battle against injustice and for human dignity.”
“It was from this legacy that the newly founded Federal Republic, once it belatedly recognized the significance of the military resistance, was able to draw legitimacy,” President Gauck added.
After his speech, the president was joined by the inspector-general of the Bundeswehr, Volker Wieker, in laying a wreath at the very site where Stauffenberg and three others were executed.
Earlier, the president had taken part in a church service in Berlin Cathedral, where the head of the council of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), Nikolaus Schneider, said it was important to honor the efforts to resist Hitler made by conspirators.
Schneider also said that the resistance showed that not all Germans had watched on passively or been enthusiastic followers of Hitler in the Nazi era.
On July 20, 1944, a group of Wehrmacht officers led by Stauffenberg tried to kill Hitler by leaving a bomb inside a briefcase in one of his headquarters, known as the “Wolfsschanze” (Wolf's Lair).
Protected by an oak table, Hitler survived the attempt slightly wounded, though four other people were killed.
Stauffenberg and three other conspirators were arrested and executed a day later. Around 200 other people suspected of involvement in the plot were also executed or murdered in concentration camps. Their families were sent to concentration camps.
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Read all commentsAlways sad when we look back on these events, in Germany there is still a feeling of national shame. The victims of the regime also included opposition parties, the Christian church's and homo sexuals but the Jews bore of the ire by the system. As we say in Britain on our own rememberance day “we will remember them”
Jul 21st, 2014 - 10:20 am 0It's interesting to note some comparisons. In Germany, you say, there is still a feeling of national shame. In argieland, there is no national shame because argieland today is not the same as argieland under the Junta. A clear line is drawn. Over the months and years that I have read this board, you can find, many times, the argie statement “It wasn't us”. And yet present-day argieland has the same aspirations, subscribes to the same lies. It has tried “justice” against a few scapegoats. But Germans admitted that they were all responsible. Germany has a few oddballs who want to whinge about Britain honouring people who gave their lives in defence of our country. Argieland honours criminal invaders and occupiers. Argieland CELEBRATES the beginning of the war they started. Britain and the Falklands COMMEMORATE its end.
Jul 21st, 2014 - 12:28 pm 0Congratulations to Germans for their honesty. In a way it's a shame that they have two world wars to be ashamed of at the same time. It's doubtful if those wars will ever be forgotten. I wonder at what point people in general will decide that the then-current population of Germany has no connection with the events of the 30s and 40s.
Argieland has no such possibility. It kids itself that its denial is accepted by everyone else. 32 years and no-one has forgotten argieland's aggression or its occupation. No-one forgets its war crimes. No-one forgets those who packed the streets in celebration after the invasion. And argieland continues on in the same criminal fashion. It's not enough to pretend to change for around 10 years. Some suggestions. Make it a criminal offence to even think about claiming the Falklands. Cancel all “decorations” for actions in that period. Cancel any welfare benefits attributable to being involved. Admit publicly, at the UN, that argieland has been lying for 180 years. Change argieland's constitution. Change the “education” system. It's more or less what Germany has done!
Collaborated on jointly by Hollywood and Germany, Operation Valkyrie, the movie based on the persons of Colonel Klaus María Graf Von Stauffenberg and other morally responsible officers in the Wehrmacht who tried to assassinate Adolf Hitler and remove the Nazi party from power, has done more to cast a calm, unprejudiced and unromanticized eye on a segment of the German people, than any other effort to date. I suspect that it has contributed significantly toward the recovery of the emotionally and spiritually crippled generations of youth who grew up after the war. I hope it has made them strong enough in their collective shame to stop any such madmen in the future.
Jul 21st, 2014 - 12:43 pm 0I wish the people of the United States could learn from this, summarily dealing with such criminally insane leaders as George W. Bush―before killing innocents and duped combatants on both sides; before attracting the ire of other peoples through tragi-comedy gross arrogance.
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