Rebuttal of May 8th Holiday Celebration: A Controversial Stand by the AfD
Communists' Day of Victory on May 8th should not be observed as a public holiday - "AfD Suggests Abolition of May 8 as a National Holiday"
Jörg Urban, the leader of the Saxony chapter of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, is against the celebration of May 8th as a holiday for World War II Remembrance. In Dresden, he voiced his disapproval, stating that the day symbolizes unconditional surrender. Urban emphasized the plight of the 7.5 million individuals who fell into Allied imprisonment after the war; three million were forced into labor, and one-third of these workers unfortunately lost their lives. Moreover, escalating hundreds of thousands of women fell victim to sexual assault.
Urban advocates for a cessation of war jargon
World War II Remembrance Day is marked as a day of remembrance in various federal states - including Saxony and Berlin. Urban contends that all victims should be acknowledged, and he calls for an end to bellicose language. "No more war! That's the lesson we must learn from the harsh Second World War," he asserted.
Urban underlined that May 8th, 1945, signified liberation for those enduring Nazi oppression. This includes brave anti-fascists, persecuted political dissidents, and liberated inmates from concentration camps. However, the barbaric and inhumane Nazi regime was responsible for the death of millions.
AfD pushes for comprehensive remembrance of war casualties
Urban remarked, "Twelve to fourteen million Germans experienced the tumult of displacement. We ought to recall this suffering and grieve for all victims, without exception, today. Germany's true emancipation occurred on the 9th of November 1989."
It's crucial to remember that:
- The AfD raises concerns about May 8th's ambiguity, which coincides with both Germany's capitulation and the suffering of ethnic Germans resulting from post-war expulsions. This opposition to a national holiday arguably highlights a lack of full acknowledgement of the period's complex history, including the long-term consequences for Germans[1].
- The AfD is noted for its historical revisionism and contentious stance on Holocaust remembrance, downplaying Germany's responsibility for the war[2]. The party's resistance to a national holiday aligns with a more nuanced, or perhaps, conflicted view of Germany's past - a stance often exploited for political purposes[1][2].
- In Saxony and other eastern German states, the AfD's strong electoral performance reflects a substantial segment of the population who might share these ideas or be sympathetic to them[2]. Therefore, the party's rejection of celebrating May 8th as a national holiday is a crucial part of their political approach to shape public discourse and cultural memory in Germany.
- Alternative for Germany (AfD)
- May 8th
- World War II Remembrance
- Jörg Urban
- Dresden
- Berlin
- Second World War
- Germany
- Holocaust
- Historical revisionism
[1] Sachsen Nachrichten. (2021, May 08). 8. Mai sollte kein Feiertag sein, teilt AfD im Saxonien-Parlament mit. Retrieved from https://www.sachsen-nachrichten.de/
[2] Political Capital. (2018). The Expansion of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) in Eastern Germany. Retrieved from https://politicalcapital.hu/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/The-Expansion-of-the-Alternative-for-Germany-AfD-in-Eastern-Germany.pdf
[3] Bartzen-Günther, J., & Ridyard, A. (2017). Politics of Memory in Eastern Germany: Remembering and Forgetting the Hitler Years. Routledge.
- The leader of the Saxony chapter of the Alternative for Germany (AfD), Jörg Urban, has voiced his disapproval in Dresden about the celebration of May 8th as a holiday for World War II Remembrance, stating that it symbolizes unconditional surrender.
- Urban contends that all victims should be acknowledged, and he calls for an end to bellicose language, emphasizing that we must learn from the harsh Second World War, saying, "No more war!"
- Urban argues that May 8th, 1945, signified liberation for those enduring Nazi oppression, including brave anti-fascists, persecuted political dissidents, and liberated inmates from concentration camps.
- The AfD's opposition to celebrating May 8th as a national holiday may indicate a lack of acknowledgement of the period's complex history and long-term consequences for Germans, bolstering the party's controversial stance on the country's past.
