"It is a Story of Reconciliation, of the Efforts to rebuild Relations between People in Germany and Czechia"
Federal President Steinmeier honored the five winning teams of the German-Czech video competition “Never Again!” at a reception.
July 09th, 2025
I would like to cordially welcome you to Schloss Bellevue. And it is a particular pleasure for me to welcome the school pupils with us here today – the winning teams of a very special video competition. You had a challenging question to address: what does the imperative "Never again!" actually mean today – 80 years after the end of the Second World War? For you personally, for each and every one of us, for the culture of remembrance in our two countries, Germany and Czechia, for our shared future?
Not least, remembering means reminding ourselves of certain things –time and again and sometimes in new ways. That is what you did for this competition – through the medium of video. You highlight what war and displacement do to the hearts and minds of those who experience them. You outline what lessons we can learn from the horrors of the past for our present. What we can learn from the failure of democracy, from dictatorship, oppression, from the war of annihilation begun by Germany and the many millions who fell victim to it, from the persecution and murder of European Jews.
At the same time, you make it clear that we have to come together, also across borders to remember what happened. That is more important than ever – in a world which has become more violent and hostile; at a time when human rights, freedom and democracy are under attack in many places. You call to our attention how precious these achievements are – and how urgently we have to protect them. Thank you very much for your dedicated and creative work!
However, I am also grateful for the overall message which this competition sends. After all, it is a continuation of an impressive story which is also worthwhile remembering. It is a story of reconciliation, of the efforts to rebuild relations between people in Germany and Czechia. One individual who played a crucial role in this was Vaclav Havel. During his term of office as President of the Czech Republic, which was only a few years old at that time, he said something I found very lovely about how Germany and the Germans are seen in Czechia. He said that this view was marked by inspiration and pain in equal measure. That is perhaps a good description of what a culture of remembrance has to achieve.
On the one hand, it has to ensure that even painful events remain present. Particularly for us here in Germany, the ongoing confrontation with the National Socialist era is part of our identity – the confrontation with our responsibility for the crimes committed by Germans. With the crime against humanity that was the Shoah, perpetrated millions of times over in camps and ghettos – for example, in Theresienstadt. With atrocities such as the massacres in villages like Lidice and Ležáky. With murderous injustices, such as the executions in Plötzensee in Berlin. President Pavel, you visited the memorial this morning.
On the other hand, the culture of remembrance should encourage us to understand our present and to seek new, better ways of living together. That has succeeded between Czechia and Germany. Since the German-Czech Declaration of 1997, there have been numerous steps on the road to reconciliation and a reckoning with the past. Today, our two nations enjoy close and friendly relations – in the economic and cultural spheres, in cross-border cooperation, at many levels – not least within the European context. Europe unites us in peace, freedom and solidarity.
The history of European integration, as difficult as it has often been and remains, has lived up to its promise to ensure that war and inhumanity "Never again!" shape our continent’s image. Let us honour this aspiration. Let us commit to this Europe, a Europe founded on justice, democracy and international understanding!
I would like to thank all those that have demonstrated their commitment to this goal by supporting this video competition: the European Academy Berlin, Post Bellum, the German-Czech Future Fund, the Czech Embassy in Berlin and the German Embassy in Prague. Above all, however, I want to commend you, the winning teams: congratulations!
