Wagenknecht party conference recalls Auschwitz horrors

DPA
·2 min read
Sahra Wagenknecht, party chairwoman, speaks at the founding conference of the new Wagenknecht party, the "Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance - for Reason and Justice". The party was officially founded at the beginning of January with around 450 members. Kay Nietfeld/dpa
Sahra Wagenknecht, party chairwoman, speaks at the founding conference of the new Wagenknecht party, the "Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance - for Reason and Justice". The party was officially founded at the beginning of January with around 450 members. Kay Nietfeld/dpa
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

At the start of the first national party conference of the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), German writer Daniela Dahn recalled the liberation of the Nazi extermination camp Auschwitz 79 years ago.

Party founder Sahra Wagenknecht had asked her to speak about the historic event, Dahn said in Berlin on Saturday.

The International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27th commemorates the 79th anniversary of the liberation of the former Nazi concentration camp in Auschwitz.

"Commitment to anti-racism and anti-fascism emanates unmistakably from this party conference," said the author, who was the opening speaker at the capital's Kino Kosmos conference centre, once the largest cinema in the former East Germany.

However, the emphatic wish that all Germans would have learnt from history forever had unfortunately not been fulfilled, she added.

"The womb is still fertile," Dahn said, referring to the appearance of new far-right sentiments and movements in society.

She also recalled the great sacrifices of the Soviet Union's Red Army in the fight against Nazi Germany and in the liberation of the notorious concentration camp located in modern-day Oświęcim, Poland.

Today, it was good that at least one consistent peace party was now in Germany's parliament, said Dahn.

Wagenknecht, 54, formed the new BSW in early January after breaking away from the hard-left Die Linke (The Left) last year.

Sahra Wagenknecht, party chairwoman, speaks at the founding conference of the new Wagenknecht party, the "Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance - for Reason and Justice". The party was officially founded at the beginning of January with around 450 members. Kay Nietfeld/dpa
Sahra Wagenknecht, party chairwoman, speaks at the founding conference of the new Wagenknecht party, the "Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance - for Reason and Justice". The party was officially founded at the beginning of January with around 450 members. Kay Nietfeld/dpa
Sahra Wagenknecht takes part in the founding conference of the new Wagenknecht party, the "Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance - for Reason and Justice". The party was officially founded at the beginning of January with around 450 members. Kay Nietfeld/dpa
Sahra Wagenknecht takes part in the founding conference of the new Wagenknecht party, the "Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance - for Reason and Justice". The party was officially founded at the beginning of January with around 450 members. Kay Nietfeld/dpa
Sahra Wagenknecht and Oskar Lafontaine (L) take part in the founding conference of the new Wagenknecht party, the "Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance - for Reason and Justice". The party was officially founded at the beginning of January with around 450 members. Kay Nietfeld/dpa
Sahra Wagenknecht and Oskar Lafontaine (L) take part in the founding conference of the new Wagenknecht party, the "Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance - for Reason and Justice". The party was officially founded at the beginning of January with around 450 members. Kay Nietfeld/dpa
Sahra Wagenknecht and Oskar Lafontaine (L) take part in the founding conference of the new Wagenknecht party, the "Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance - for Reason and Justice". The party was officially founded at the beginning of January with around 450 members. Kay Nietfeld/dpa
Sahra Wagenknecht and Oskar Lafontaine (L) take part in the founding conference of the new Wagenknecht party, the "Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance - for Reason and Justice". The party was officially founded at the beginning of January with around 450 members. Kay Nietfeld/dpa