“There are people who put their lives at risk for society, and they simply deserve a certain amount of praise and recognition,” says David Halbumer.
Hey was a soldier posted abroad and now serves as the Vice President of the Association of German deployment veterans (BDV). The organization has been campaigning for an official giant day in Germany over the years.
On Sunday, June 15, this will happen when military giants will first be honored with a major citizen celebrations across the country at the Rechstag Parliamentary Building and other programs in Berlin.
The hostess is pleased. “In another country, this is definitely one thing, but it is not yet here at all,” they say.
Why did Germany not celebrate veteran day
There are obvious historical reasons why the culture of praise for veterans is now developing only in Germany. The tradition of celebrating the veterans ended with the defeat of Nazi Germany in another world.
Nazi’s so -called Heroes Memorial Day was abolished and replaced by a national day of mourning. After Vehramachat, Nazi’s integrated armed forces established, Germany had no army for a decade. During this time the associations of veterans were banned.
Even after the Federal Republic of Germany, established its army, Bundesvehar in 1955, no new veterans were investigated. It began to change in the 1990s when more German soldiers were deployed abroad. He served in Balkan, Afghanistan and Africa, and some injured or shocked.
But all thesis soldiers did not get the necessary help from Bundesvehar or other government agencies in response. The German Society seemed slightly more than friendly apathy in Bundesvehar, despite the fact that foreign deployment was approved by Parliament.
The Halbumer experienced this lack of interest. He explains about his association’s memorial events in front of the Rechstag in Berlin, “Thanks to the Tourists of the United States, England and France” for our service, while the German people had opinion. “Most people who came could not be related to us at all.”
How German MPs started recognizing military giants
It was primarily the number of veterans, who repeatedly unknowingly raised their concerns, which were finally heard among the MPs. It was challenging to add Bundesvehar to “veteran” to “veteran” in a new way because many people combined it with World War II.
What is a news needed. In 2018, the then Defense Minister, Ursula von Der Leyen finally provided one. In a order of the day, he decided, “Any experienced person of Bundesvehar who is in active service as a soldier in Bundesvehar or has retired respectable with this service and has not ranked free.”
According to this comprehensive definition, there are about 10 million giants in the country, most of whom no longer wear uniforms.
In April 2024, it was not reported that Bundestag passed a resolution for a veteran day creature with a large majority. Only the Left party called “symbolic politics”, criticizing what he said. The resolution included action and pledge to improve support for the injured giants in their families.
From the point of view of veterans, there is still a long way to provide for the injured soldiers. Langhy examinations and bureaucracy obstacles often mean delay in obtaining care.
“We would like to see fast, simple procedures,” for 25 years a soldier Andreas Agart, which was deployed seven times in Afghanistan. The 49-year-old, returned from his service with a post-tromatic stress disorder.
Celebration and protest plan for giants of Germany
EGGERT is now helping other veterans. He plans to spend the main event in Berlin on 15 June, which will be opened by Julia Clocaine, president of the Orthodox Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Bundestag.
The program aims to have a folk festival atmosphere with a platform program, food trucks and sports for children. In the Rechstag Building, Rock Star Brian Adams will show his photo exhibition “injured: The Legacy of War”.
“We need a day of such recognition,” Agart, which see this phenomenon as an opportunity to start interacting with Bundesvehar critics.
A coalition of leftist groups has announced a protest at the Berlin event. The participants criticized the character of recruitment to the army as a family friendly event as “the glory of Bundesvehar” and “The Veterans Day staging.”
Bundesvehar has recently increased the effigy of his recruitment. In light of the increasing military demands related to Russia’s war on Ukraine, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius stated in early June that Germany needs 60,000 more service personnel to meet NATO goals.
New security demands argued about the return of military consent, which was abolished in 2011. For now, the coalition government of Chanzeller Frederick Merz aims to strengthen the army on voluntary basis and make youth more attention.
This article was original in German.
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