On July 20, leading Bundeswehr military, political and academic figures attended the annual ceremony at the Berlin Bendlerblock, commemorating the attempt on July 20, 1944, to overthrow the Hitler regime. The event, which at the same time is an oath-taking ceremony for the new Bundeswehr recruits, usually features a speech reflecting on that attempt, given by a special guest of honor. This time, Iranian-German writer Navid Kermani delivered a stirring speech. For anyone who cares deeply about human dignity and civilization, this is an example of how it is both possible and necessary to raise one’s voice, rather than cowardly howling with the wolves and thereby bringing about one’s own downfall. The entire event is available on the phoenix.de television program, which covered the Bendlerblock ceremony, Kermani’s speech starting at approximately 33:00. The following are excerpts from Kermani’s remarks.
“After all, in his March 24 speech at the Federal Foreign Office, the Federal President had good reason to remind us that Germany is committed to international law and the rules-based world order. The reactions of political decision-makers in the government and parliament to his speech—which ranged from schadenfreude to defensiveness to outright silence—made it clear just how justified his warning was. After all, even in Germany, there is a growing chorus of voices claiming that the rules-based order is now nothing more than a topic for the arts and culture section. None other than the Chancellor has made it a habit to downplay international law and gloss over violations of it whenever it seems politically expedient.
“Dear recruits, you are at the beginning of what may be a long career in the military. It is unlikely that the coming decades will remain as peaceful as the past decades have been for Germany, all things considered. Should a future federal government seek to lead you into a war that is as blatantly contrary to international law and politically disastrous as the recent war waged by the United States and Israel against Iran, it will be your duty to refuse the order. I am speaking of blatant violations of the law. International law, like any law, is open to interpretation and involves many borderline cases—such as in the context of preemptive defense or when, despite an imminent genocide, a United Nations mandate cannot be obtained. But the threat to wipe out an entire civilization, or a declared attack on a country’s civilian infrastructure, constitutes such a blatant injustice that one need not be a lawyer or consult one’s own conscience to recognize it. And the central lesson that not only Germany but all of humanity has drawn from the crimes of World War II and the Shoah is the rule of law.
