Supervised Reading | 80 Years Without Defeat

It's certainly worth getting excited about, because the time has almost come: On May 8th, Germany will celebrate 80 years without defeat! Already, the city centers are being polished to a high shine, and the Federal President's glasses are being polished. Steinmeier should be able to read his commemorative speech in the Bundestag flawlessly. No stuttering should spoil the enjoyment as Germans listen with open ears to marvel at their President's words.

80 years! That's an impressive span. And so the tenor of the presidential statement this time will be that while there were a lot of bad things in the Third Reich (except for the Autobahns), the truly great thing is how the Germans overcame this terrible past. Now people in other less democratic countries can look up to us with admiration.

Germany has become a peace-loving nation. Not a shot was fired when Lidl and Aldi invaded Poland. Today, you can buy Karlsquell and Solevita apple juice all over Europe. Our wonder weapon is no longer called the V2, but "supermarket." Yes, this country once committed terrible crimes, but in the here and now, an entire continent benefits from offering Barissimo filter coffee. The world has healed thanks to German retail.

But of course, we mustn't let go of the culture of remembrance. Steinmeier likes to speak in this context of a "commitment to responsibility." Because of this commitment, we erected the best, largest, and most beautiful Holocaust memorial in the world in Berlin. Nowhere else is one's own shameful and misdeeds commemorated with such sustained and responsible zeal. In America, at least, they haven't built anything comparable for the Native Americans. And there's still no memorial for the women whose pussies Trump grabbed . That just goes to show how good the Jews have it...

Germany has changed fundamentally since the last World War. German society is more open and diverse than ever. Even our fascists are diverse. The AfD leader is in a lesbian relationship with a non-Aryan, Maximilian Krah collaborated with a Chinese spy, and Björn Höcke has completely avoided wearing a uniform. Even though brown would suit him very well.

Eight decades, and we're already approaching 100! And the statistics would be even more impressive if it weren't for the Afghanistan incident. However, it must be said that the actual battles were won, and Germany only withdrew out of a lack of courage. That can't be compared to capitulation. Therefore, it was absolutely right that Angela Merkel didn't shoot herself in the head in the Chancellor's bunker after the Bundeswehr's withdrawal.

Now it's important to maintain a consistently high level of commitment to responsibility so that history cannot repeat itself. In a country where Frank-Walter Steinmeier delivers outstanding speeches, there's no need to ban political parties to keep the fascists in check.