'D-Day a victory for Germany'

2004-06-05 14:34

Berlin - Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, the first German leader ever to take part in the D-Day commemorations, has said the momentous events on the beaches of northern France also represented a victory for Germany.

"The victory of the allies was not a victory over Germany, but a victory for Germany," Schroeder said in a letter due to be published in a German newspaper on Sunday.

The German leader said he regarded his participation in the 60th anniversary of the Normandy landings due to take place on Sunday as "a great honour for my country and for (German) democracy."

He added in the letter, to be published in the weekly Bild am Sonntag, that Germany could commemorate the events with "its head held high."

He said that no one expected the Germans to feel guilty for the crimes and the genocide created by an indescribable regime. But he said: "We are responsible for our history."

Meanwhile British Foreign Minister Jack Straw, in an article published in the German press on Saturday, said Schroeder's presence in northern France was symbolic of the long way that Europe had come.

He said that 60 years ago "our parents and grandparents made war, our towns and homes were bombarded and destroyed. Now, we have turned the page on our continent," he wrote in the Berliner Zeitung.

During the ceremonies Schroeder will lay two wreaths at an Allied cemetery at Ranville, which also contains the remains of more than 300 German soldiers.

- AFP