Victims' representative Zupke warns against distorting GDR history

On the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Bundestag's SED victims' representative, Evelyn Zupke, warns against appropriating the legacy of the political change in 1989 for political purposes. The peaceful revolution is "not a quarry" from which everyone can use what fits their own political narrative, said Zupke.

"It was a revolution for freedom and democracy. Anyone who refers to 1989 today must not distort this history and use it for their own political purposes," Zupke told the Rheinische Post.

Easier access to Stasi documents called for

At the same time, Zupke called for easier access for those affected to the Stasi documents. “We cannot keep anyone who, after decades, gathers courage and faces this painful chapter of their own history waiting for months just because the authorities have to wait for documents from the archives. Our democracy owes that to those persecuted by the dictatorship,” she told the Funke media.

“Freedom and democracy can never be taken for granted”

On the 37th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) called for the protection of freedom and democracy in Germany and Europe. In an

“November 9th stands for the darkest and the happiest hours of our history: for anti-Semitism and persecution, for the beginning of democracy and the fall of the wall,” said Merz. "Freedom and democracy can never be taken for granted. Let's protect them - in Germany and Europe."

Protection of Jewish life as a state goal

On November 9th, Berlin Archbishop Heiner Koch reiterated his call for the protection of Jewish life to be included as a state goal in the capital's state constitution. “What belongs to the foundation of our society belongs in the constitution, including the fight against anti-Semitism,” Koch told the Rheinische Post.

According to him, with its inclusion in the constitution, all parties, right and left, would be obliged to fight anti-Semitism. “It would have an impact on curricula as well as funding guidelines,” explained the Catholic priest.

Many events for November 9th

The historical events of November 9th will be commemorated with numerous events today. In Weimar, Thuringia, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will commemorate the proclamation of the Republic in 1918, the pogroms against the Jewish population in 1938 as well as the peaceful revolution and the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

On this occasion, Steinmeier wants to give a speech at the memorial stone for the murdered and persecuted at the Buchenwald memorial near Weimar and lay a wreath.