Russian Foreign Ministry Recalls German Past Over Berlin's Stance on Gaza

Germany is opposing South Africa's lawsuit against Israel over genocide in the Gaza Strip. When asked about this, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova touched upon several other topics, including German’s support of Kiev’s neo-Nazi regime.

Moscow is not surprised about Berlin’s recent decision to oppose South Africa's lawsuit at the top United Nations court accusing Israel of genocide against Gaza, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has stated.

"This comes against the backdrop of Germany’s unconditional support for Israel, regardless of the consequences. This policy line pursued by German authorities has long and firmly occupied an important place among the unspoken dogmas of the ‘rules-based order’ defined by Washington," Zakharova said.

An 'Ill Service to Israel'

"The German political elites seem to have done Israel an ill service," she added.

"In a corresponding government statement, Berlin refers to ‘the consideration of German history and the crime against humanity in the form of the Holocaust,’ thereby declaring itself an ‘expert’ in mass extermination­-related issues. But what can we do with the crimes against humanity committed by Germany against other nationalities and ethnic groups during the Second World War?" the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said.

Apparently, she went on, Berlin "again forgot that according to the UN General Assembly resolution A/RES/60/7 and a number of other international documents, the Holocaust is the persecution and mass extermination of representatives of various ethnic and social groups by the Nazis." The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Berlin Declaration “reinforced the need to recognize the importance of respectful treatment of all ethnic and religious groups without segregation,” Zakharova pointed out.

‘Ill service’: Moscow criticizes Germany's support for Israel amid South Africa's genocide lawsuit

Moscow is not surprised that Berlin recently decided to counter South Africa in its International Court of Justice lawsuit accusing Israel of genocide against Gaza, Russian… pic.twitter.com/Xab54X1Nzo

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According to her, history has shown many examples when criminals who committed serious offenses took the path of correction and helped prevent similar atrocities by using their knowledge of illegal experiences. But this was always only possible," Zakharova went on, "after those criminals’ active repentance and unconditional recognition of one’s own guilt without the slightest hint of attempts to justify their crimes, let alone repeat them."

"We see Germany take a different path of interaction with its past. Again, like 80 years ago, Berlin divides people along ethnic lines, something that is taken to a new, more sophisticated level," the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said.

As an example, she pointed to Berlin’s stubborn reluctance to pay compensation to non-Jewish survivors of the Siege of Leningrad, arguing that Russians, Belarusians, Ukrainians, as well as representatives of the Finno-Ugric peoples, Armenians, Georgians, Moldovans and many others do not have the right to receive reparations from the German government.

"We have repeatedly drawn the international community’s attention to this blatant fact of a new racial segregation. It is the tragedy of Leningrad, which was under a horrendous siege for more than 800 days, […] along with the decisions of the 1942 Wannsee Conference and the creation of a system of 'death camps' in Europe, which serve as an important proof of the inhumane intentions by Nazi Germany and its allies," Zakharova added.

She accused German authorities of pursuing a policy of undermining Russia’s efforts to prevent the rehabilitation of Nazism. The Russian diplomat recalled that during previous UN General Assembly sessions, Germany repeatedly abstained from voting for the adoption of a resolution proposed by Russia to combat the glorification of Nazism, neo-Nazism and other practices that add to the escalation of modern forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.

What’s more, Zakharova stressed, as of 2022 Germany has said "no" to the above-­mentioned resolution, thereby challenging the proposals contained in the text of the document aimed at stopping the renewed glorification of the Nazism and the whitewashing of former SS members, including the Waffen-SS units designated as criminal by the 1945-1948 Nuremberg Trials.

Germany Backing Zelensky Regime

Compared to other EU members, Germany is more active in defending the Kiev regime, which has proclaimed the glorification of Nazi collaborators as a сore component of its domestic and foreign policy, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said.

She berated Berlin for supporting “the [German] militants who hold neo-Nazi torch-lit parades, glorify World War II criminals, use SS division insignia and patches and put Wehrmacht symbols on Western-supplied military equipment.”

"Berlin sponsors and arms them, as well as organizes treatment and provides assistance in the international arena to those who purposefully kill Russians, Russian citizens and Russian-speaking people,” Zakharova stressed. She added that the past few months have seen German authorities make more statements, in which they “questioned Berlin's condemnation of the country’s Nazi past."

"Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who publicly confirmed that Germany and Ukraine’s neo-Nazi regime ‘are on the right side of history,’ actually justified the current misanthropic and Russophobic regime of [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky, who has reincarnated collaborators of Nazi Germany and is trying to erase the memory about fighters against fascism,” the Russian diplomat underlined.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock “proudly announced the death of her ancestors ‘during the defense of Koenigsberg’ [currently the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad]. This is how Germany’s ruling elite perceives the ‘right side’ of history,” Zakharova added.

Enough Evidence to Confirm Nazi Germany's Genocide Against Soviets

She scolded Berlin for refusing to recognize “the crimes of National Socialism against the Soviet people as genocide.” Zakharova reminded that Russian investigative authorities and courts had already obtained a significant amount of evidence confirming war crimes, crimes against humanity and acts of genocide committed by Third Reich troops in various regions of the Soviet Union. According to Zakharova, these include the following events.

“We believe that these and other similar numerous examples are enough for Germany to officially recognize the crimes of the Third Reich against our country as genocide,” Zakharova emphasized.

“From all this,” she went on, “we can conclude that in the context of the current proceedings at the International Court of Justice, Berlin decided to isolate itself from everything that constitutes its historical guilt before humanity, and only to focus on the Holocaust.” Zakharova reproached German authorities for considering the issue “under the angle that is beneficial to them at this particular moment.”

Middle East Issue

“As for the Middle East, Scholz’s government should not have taken such an initiative [ namely, the opposition against South Africa’s lawsuit] , taking into account not only domestic political considerations, but also the indignation that the collective punishment of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip causes throughout the world, and especially in the countries of the Global South,” she said.

The Russian diplomat also recalled that Namibia’s President Hage Geingob urged Germany not to take any action in relation to this extremely sensitive subject, since Germany has not redeemed itself yet for its crimes against humanity committed in Africa.

“We are talking about the events of 1904-1908, when the colonial administration in South-West Africa exterminated tens of thousands of people from among the Herero and Nama people living in the region. In Namibia, these events are regarded as an act of genocide against the indigenous population of the country,” Zakharova said.

'Reason for Repentance'

In the meantime, Moscow remains "shocked and exasperated" by the fact that the bulk of the Third Reich’s crimes, including the extermination of 27 million Soviet citizen, are not considered by the German authorities a reason for repentance, Zakharova added. “On the contrary, Berlin is once again mired in the destruction of the residents of the part of Europe that Hitler failed to neither destroy nor conquer,” she underscored.

"The question arises whether Germany’s previous repentance was sincere and if the de-Nazification of Germany achieved its goals," the Russian diplomat noted. She added that Moscow considers the current German government’s stance "unacceptable, illegal and immoral."

The Kremlin is highly alarmed about “the ongoing resurgence of German militarism against the backdrop of [Berlin’s] endorsement of neo-Nazi agenda. This may have extremely serious consequences for the fate of Germany itself, as well as Europe and the world, given the country’s contradictory historical experience,” the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman concluded.