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With parades and memorial events canceled or curtailed as part of efforts to contain the outbreak, Europe and the United States marked the defeat of Nazi Germany with grim humor.
French President Emmanuel Macron places a flower wreath during a ceremony to mark the end of World War II at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris on May 8, 2020. Image: AFP
BERLIN – World leaders marked 75 years since the end of World War II in Europe on Friday, urging citizens to draw inspiration from historic victory as the world battles against the coronavirus pandemic.
With parades and memorial events canceled or curtailed as part of efforts to contain the outbreak, Europe and the United States marked the defeat of Nazi Germany with grim humor.
United States President Donald Trump said the anniversary served as a reminder “that no challenge is greater than the resolve of the American spirit.”
“In recent months, our nation has faced notable adversity during the coronavirus pandemic. But as we have done many times before, the United States will succeed,” Trump said before a small ceremony at the Washington World War II memorial. .
In Berlin, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Chancellor Angela Merkel adhered to the guidelines of social distancing while laying down their crowns.
In his speech, Steinmeier recalled how nations joined forces to fight the tyranny of Nazism, saying that the same unity was needed to defeat the virus.
“For us Germans, ‘never again’ means ‘never again alone,'” he said.
“We want more, not less cooperation in the world, also in the fight against the pandemic.”
In Britain, among the countries most affected by the virus in Europe, Prime Minister Boris Johnson also drew wartime parallels with COVID-19.
“On this anniversary, we are engaged in a new fight against the coronavirus that demands the same spirit of national effort that you exemplified 75 years ago,” he said in a letter to veterans.
Queen Elizabeth II will make a televised address to the nation at 9:00 p.m. (2000 GMT), at the same time as his father, King George VI, gave a radio address that marked VE Day in 1945.
Muted switches
The muted commemorations come as the continent faces its biggest crisis since World War II, this time an invisible enemy that has killed more than 270,000 people worldwide.
In Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron attended a discreet ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe on a nearly deserted Champs-Elysées avenue.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose country celebrates Victory Day on May 9, recorded a special video message for the Austrian people on the occasion of the anniversary, wishing them “peace and prosperity.”
“We are all fighting this epidemic and mutual support is very important at this difficult time,” Putin said in the message shown on Austrian television.
Originally, Russia had planned a major military exhibit on its May 9 Victory Day, with world leaders like Macron on the guest list.
But now there will only be an air liftoff over Red Square in Moscow as the country becomes Europe’s new point of coronavirus infection.
Putin will place flowers on Saturday at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier memorial before making a television address.
‘GRATITUDE’
Germany rarely celebrates the anniversary of the Nazis’ unconditional surrender to the Allies with much fanfare.
This year, however, the city of Berlin declared a unique holiday on Friday.
President Steinmeier urged the Germans to view May 8 as “a day of gratitude” because it freed Germany from the terror of the Nazis and brought peace to Europe.
His words recalled a decisive speech by former President Richard von Weizsaecker, who in 1985 urged the Germans to view May 8 not as a day of defeat, but of liberation from Nazi terror.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas also expressed “immense gratitude” to countries that “accepted Germany back into the family of peaceful nations” despite their responsibility for the Holocaust, in which six million Jews died .
But not everyone agreed with the tone of the commemorations in Germany.
Alexander Gauland, a leading figure in the far-right AfD party, rejected a suggestion to make May 8 a permanent holiday, describing it as a “day of complete defeat” for Germany.
Josef Schuster, president of the Central Council of Jews, said Gauland’s vision of the anniversary was typical of “neo-Nazis.”
“The intention is to portray the Germans primarily as victims. I consider this distortion of history and the relativization of Nazi crimes to be irresponsible,” he said.
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