Nationwide events to highlight Nazi atrocities and the obiliteration [sic] of whole segments of German society were staged to deliver the message never again.
Chancellor Merkel gave a speech timed to coincide with the moment that President Paul von Hindenburg, appointed Hitler as head of government in 1933.
The German leader opened an exhibit named the Topography of Terror that displayed details of crimes at all the key buildings used by the Nazis.
With clear references to the parallels between the economic troubles of inter-war Germany and challenges facing Europe's biggest economy, Mrs Merkel told listeners that Hitler was helped to power by a failing establishment.
"The rise of the Nazis was made possible because the elite of German society worked with them, but also, above all else, because most in Germany at least tolerated this rise," she said. "Human rights don't assert themselves. Freedom doesn't preserve itself all alone and democracy doesn't succeed by itself."
"That must be a constant warning for us, Germans."
Posters draped on landmarks, including the famous KaDeWe department store, contained biographies of the Jews, intellectuals and others who were targetted by the Nazis. At the former heaquarters of the Gestapo another exhibit showed photographs of the Reichstag burning and the first official poster issued by the Hitler government on April 1, 1933 declaring a boycott of Jewish businesses.
"Germans, defend yourselves! Don't buy from Jews," it said. » | Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent | Wednesday, January 30, 2013
