2009-08-31 | Krzysztof Marcin Zalewski

This year, more attention has been paid to the anniversary of the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact than in previous years; however, the Pact remains an event of secondary importance in the German politics of memory. Although members of the German elite have published a statement condemning the Pact, Germany's leading politicians were not among those who signed it, and the major German media largely overlooked it. Much more attention is being paid in Germany to this year's joyful anniversaries of the establishment of the Federal Republic of Germany and the fall of the Berlin Wall. The celebrations of the anniversary of the end of World War II and the peaceful transformations of 1989 are important mainly in the context of Germany's relations with Central and Eastern European states, in particular Poland.

German media criticises Russia's historical policy

On the 70th anniversary of its signature, the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact briefly became the subject of analyses in the German media, although it remained a topic of secondary importance. While the agreement between the Third Reich and the USSR is interesting mainly for historians and journalists dealing with Central and Eastern Europe, it should be noted that the German interpretations of this historical event have changed. The Pact, like the entire Nazi legacy, has been repeatedly condemned in Germany. However, while in previous years it was mentioned primarily in the context of the relations between the Baltic States and Poland on the one hand, and Russia on the other, this year the authors have noted the link between the memory of the Pact and the rise of authoritarian tendencies in the Russian Federation. It has been emphasised that the Kremlin's aggressive historical policy (e.g. the introduction of penalties for presenting historical concepts incompatible with the official historical doctrine) could consequently render the study of Stalinist crimes impossible and serve as a pretext for the persecution of human rights defenders in Russia.

The Pact is important in the context of Germany's relations with Central and Eastern Europe...

Neither the federal government nor the political parties have issued any official statements on the occasion of the Pact's anniversary, even though German politicians have raised historical issues on many occasions in the course of this year which sees numerous important anniversaries in Germany. The reasons for the absence of an official condemnation of the Pact and Russia's policy may include the German sense of responsibility for Nazi crimes committed in the Soviet Union in the years 1941-1945, and the importance of the current co-operation between Berlin and Moscow. The statement by members of the German elite (known in Poland as the letter of German intellectuals on the 70th anniversary of World War II), in which German politicians and intellectuals apologise to Central and Eastern European nations for the Pact and the Nazi crimes committed during World War II and thank them for the peaceful revolutions of 1989, has attracted little interest from the German media. It was issued on the initiative of a group of former East German opposition members who are currently MPs and deal with Russia and Central and Eastern Europe (including Poland), and support Russian human rights activists. Even though the statement has been signed by members of all major parties represented in the Bundestag, among the signatories there are no preeminent names from the German political scene.

...but matters little in the German politics of memory

The anniversaries of the Federal Republic of Germany (1949) and the fall of the Berlin Wall (1989), which commemorate the two events of fundamental importance for the historical awareness of the Germans and are celebrated with great pomp this year, have overshadowed the memory of the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II and the Pact between the Third Reich and the Soviet Union. This is visible for instance in the absence of a reference to the Pact in chancellor Angela Merkel's address at this year's congress of expelled Germans (Homeland Day) on 22 August.
Commemorating the anniversaries of 1939 (and 1989) has nevertheless become an important element in Germany's foreign policy with regard to countries from Central and Eastern Europe, as demonstrated by the fact that chancellor Merkel and the foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier will participate in the celebrations of historical anniversaries not only in Poland, but also in the Czech Republic and Hungary.

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