Sevim Dadelen, MP for the German political party Die Linke – ‘The Left’ – has criticised Germany for a lack of plans to commemorate the Centenary of the First World War.
Ms. Dadelen, who is International Relations spokesperson for Die Linke, has branded the Federal Government’s unwillingness to commit funds or to organise events to commemorate the Centenary a “scandal”.
The Federal Government announced that €4 million has been set aside to mark the Centenary, which, Ms. Dadelen highlighted, “is only a fraction of the expenditure in comparison to, for example, the amount which the British and French governments have committed”.
The Federal Government made the announcement in response to a query put forward by Die Linke.
Ms. Dadelen criticised the fact that, after the government had “finally disclosed” details, that there are no plans to commemorate the war on the Eastern Front.
She said that “the millions of victims in Poland, Belarus, Ukraine and Russia, obviously have no meaning to the German government”.
She stated her surprise that whilst the Eastern Front had been ignored, Centenary events are being organised “in Benin and Bolivia”.
Ms. Dadelen said that her party “demands” the Federal Government mark the Centenary and that more funding should be made available. She also said that there must be no “historical revisionism”.
She concluded that, “even 100 years after the First World War, Die Linke says: No more war!”
Source: Sevim Dadelen’s website
Images courtesy of Sevim Dadelen’s website
Posted by: Daniel Barry, Centenary News