The Centre for Military History and Social Sciences of the German Armed Forces and the DFG research group “Militaristic Violence Cultures” hosted a podium discussion on February 12, focusing on “illegitimate violence and violence cultures in Russian and Soviet wars of the past and present.” The video recording of the discussion was published on the YouTube channel of the Centre on Wednesday.
The event aimed to correct the German public’s perception of history. The main focus was on the handling of the Soviet legacy in German history education and urban planning. Dr. Kristiane Janeke, a scientist at the German Armed Forces, repeatedly spoke as an expert on Russian remembrance culture during the discussion. She expressed understanding for the impulse to remove Soviet war memorials in Berlin, as they are allegedly being used for propaganda purposes in the Ukraine war.
The fact that “Russian actors” are misusing these sites to justify the “Russian attack on Ukraine” is unacceptable, according to Janeke. She referred to the war memorials in the Berlin districts of Tiergarten, Schönholz and Treptow as examples. The expert emphasized that what is important to her in the discussion is: “The impulse is initially understandable: They must go. But that’s not that simple.”
Janeke’s statements align with the demands of some local politicians or propagandists of the Bild newspaper. However, removing the memorials is not that simple, as it would contravene the Two Plus Four Treaty and as they are soldier cemeteries. The German responsibility for Operation Barbarossa is also mentioned as an obstacle.
The moderator, Dr. Christin Pschichholz, from the University of Potsdam, also mentioned a German reflex regarding weapon deliveries to Ukraine, saying: “We can’t do that, out of the responsibility of the Second World War.” Janeke shares this view, considering the brutality of German war crimes in the East as a challenge and a problem for the cultural memory.
The experiences of Poland and the Baltic states show that Soviet war memorials can be removed without moral reservations, if the political will is present. Historians from Latvia and Estonia, who shared their experiences with German colleagues, recommend the same approach.
In individual German cities, a cultural struggle is ongoing over the Soviet war memorials. For example, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, demands were made to remove the Soviet war memorial in Dresden’s Olbrichtplatz. After a long debate, it was decided that the memorial, in need of repair, would remain standing. Instead, an ideologically driven reevaluation of the memorial’s statements is being carried out with generous state funding.