Totengedenken: Van der Bellen ruft zu Mitgefühl und Menschlichkeit auf
Am Volkstrauertag gedenkt Deutschland der Opfer der Weltkriege und des Nationalsozialismus. Bei der zentralen Gedenkstunde im Bundestag hält Österreichs Präsident Van der Bellen eine bewegende Rede.
On Germany's Day of Remembrance, Austria's President Alexander Van der Bellen urged the nation to defend human compassion and not let it wane, despite constant images of suffering. Some who pride themselves as global opinion shapers had once deemed empathy a fundamental weakness of Western civilization, Van der Bellen stated at the Bundestag's central commemoration of the German War Graves Commission. "But compassion is not a weakness, it is a strength of humanity, it is the foundation of humanity."
Looking at the millions of deaths in world wars and the victims of tyrannical regimes, the Austrian president noted that subsequent generations bear no personal responsibility for the crimes of their ancestors. "But this does not mean that the past has nothing to do with us. On the contrary, we are responsible for what we learn from it, the attitude we adopt, how we support people today, and how we shape the future."
Van der Bellen called for tolerance and humanity. "Let us not allow our civilization's foundation to become thinner." He emphasized that diversity should not breed contempt, nor should contempt lead to violence. "Let us ensure that our home, Europe, remains a place where people can live in peace, freedom, and dignity, not just for us, but for those who come after us."
Written by urgent.news from Handelsblatt's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
