{
  "id": 20193427,
  "title": "Totengedenken: Van der Bellen ruft am Volkstrauertag zu Mitgefühl auf",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/15/totengedenken-van-der-bellen-ruft-am-volkstrauertag-zu-mitgefuhl-auf",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-11-15T14:53:38.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Handelsblatt",
    "slug": "handelsblatt",
    "url": "https://www.handelsblatt.com/politik/deutschland/totengedenken-van-der-bellen-ruft-am-volkstrauertag-zu-mitgefuehl-auf/100270018.html"
  },
  "original_language": "de",
  "account": "On the day of Volkstrauertag, Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen urged compassion and humanity towards one another. \"The subsequent generations bear no personal guilt for the crimes of their ancestors,\" he stated at the Bundestag's central memorial hour for the fallen of both World Wars. \"But this does not mean that the past should have no impact on us. On the contrary, we are responsible for what we learn from it, what stance we take, how we support others, and how we shape the future.\"\n\nIn his address to the Bundeswehr veterans and police officers lost in the line of duty, Van der Bellen called for the defense of compassion and humanity. \"Let us not let our civilization's veneer thin,\" he warned. \"We must not allow diversity to breed contempt, and contempt to breed violence. Let us ensure that our home, Europe, remains a place where people can live in peace, freedom, and dignity—not only for ourselves, but for those who come after us.\"\n\nVan der Bellen emphasized that grief cannot erase the past, but we have the responsibility to learn from it and act against injustice in the present. \"We cannot undo the wrongs done to others, but we can and must stand against the injustice happening today.\" He urged against complacency in a world inundated with daily news of suffering and madness. \"In an era where algorithms bombard us with grief and madness from every corner of the globe, we must not lose our compassion.\"\n\nSome who claim to be global opinion leaders have deemed empathy a weakness of the Western civilization. \"But compassion is not a weakness, it is a strength of humanity, it is the foundation of human kindness.\" Pistorius called for the defense of peace in a memorial service at the Bundeswehr's honor monument, emphasizing that peace is a delicate good that must be protected, especially amidst the numerous crises and conflicts around the world. Bundestag President Julia Klöckner told German press agency that the Volkstrauertag serves as a reminder of the devastating consequences of tyranny and the devaluation of human dignity. \"Democracy is the remedy, but it is not an inheritance. It erodes when we do not continually renew our promise of fundamental rights and freedoms.\"",
  "summary": "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.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}