“Fate should be more conscious”.
March 11th is a day of remembrance for victims of terrorism
2/16/2022, 8:43 p.m
People who lost their lives in a terrorist attack will in future be commemorated on March 11 with mourning flags. The federal government decides that. According to Interior Minister Faeser, it should be a national day of remembrance, of compassion, but also of warning.
March 11 is now a national day of remembrance for victims of terrorist violence. The victims of terrorism are commemorated on this day for the first time this year, including mourning flags on all federal government buildings. The Federal Cabinet has now decided.
“This day will be a day of remembrance, of compassion, but also a reminder to act with all determination against terrorist threats,” said Interior Minister Nancy Faeser from the SPD. On the German day of remembrance, she referred to terrorist attacks in Germany such as the Islamist attack on Berlin’s Breitscheidplatz and the right-wing terrorist attacks in Halle and Hanau. “We want all of us in the state and society to be more aware of the fate of the victims and their relatives,” explained the minister. “We want the victims to never be forgotten.”
When choosing the date, the Federal Government based it on the European Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Terrorism, which was introduced after the Islamist attacks in Madrid on March 11, 2004.
The state must stand by those affected
Since 2018, the Federal Government’s Victims’ Representative has been dealing with the concerns of those affected by terrorist and extremist attacks in Germany. In January, the FDP MP Pascal Kober took over these tasks. He told the German Press Agency: “The establishment of the office of Federal Commissioner is a signal from the state, which is thereby expressing that terrorist attacks are directed against all of us, against our values of plurality and religious freedom, against democracy and the rule of law.” Because those affected would ultimately be taken on behalf of all citizens “if they are attacked for racist, anti-Semitic, right-wing or left-wing extremist motives”. The state has a special responsibility here to stand by the side of those affected and to give them full support.
“The commemoration day is an important sign for the victims and their relatives,” said the domestic political spokesman for the Union faction, Alexander Throm. All too often in the case of acts of terrorism, all attention is focused solely on the perpetrators.