For even if he remains silent, his gestures reveal a lot. During the official ceremony last Friday, he keeps in the background. He strictly refuses to be interviewed: „This is a place of horror, of remembrance, and grief – not a place of publicity“, says the Federal German President, in the commemoration oft he liberation of Auschwitz. 

This Federal President was Roman Herzog, and this commemoration took place in Auschwitz in 1995. Yesterday in Yad Vashem, the German Federal President Steinmeier spoke, as my Head of State, and I feel ashamed that he did not remain silent.

Ironically just Steinmeier, one oft he fathers of the “Iran-Atomic-Treaty” that led to the repeal of the sanctions against the terrorist regime of Teheran, which enabled the Al-Quds-Brigades to push their actions even further, side by side with other Shiite terrorists and their brothers-in-arms of Hamas and Hizbollah. The Al-Quds-Brigades comfortably took their own „Mahan Air“ jets, all well-serviced thanks to the lifting of sanctions, in order to fly into the Syrian battle zone near the border of Israel. Quds translates to Jerusalem, and this unit is by no means an official army of any state, but a private militia very much like the SA or SS of Nazi Germany, recuited solely to operate outside its own territory, against international law – while the Revolutionary Guards, using their rifles from Enduro bikes, are protecting the revolution from their own people: one terrorist to drive the bike, the other to shoot into the crowd from the back seat.

To this regime our Federal President Esq. gladly had given his congratulations on its fourtieth anniversary of empowerment. Out of his trip to Israel, the Federal President made exactly the kind of matter Roman Herzog had excluded for considerations of bad taste: publicity.

In advance, and by the hour, radio news broadcast the departure of the presidential Airbus plane, a jet spacely enough to accomodate the horde of the press, spreading the news of the refined, stately civil servant who went so high as to become President, effectively to any indigenous living room. That’senhanced publicity. Thus, there was also a meeting with survivors of Auschwitz, in bright limelight. Piety is a different issue.

The preparation for his speech was celebrated by the BILD newspaper, displaying a crumple-faced, thoughtful Steinmeier, his well-ironed white collar open; so well-lit that one wished for his enligthenment, too. And then: the speech. Five dime for the empty phrase piggy bank. Please pass on to the presidential ghost-writer upon return. Perhaps exactly this could be their wakie-call.  

I do feel ashamed for this President. At least, I didn’t vote for him.

Would only the late Roman Herzog, R.I.P., have been there. He would most probably have remained silent, in dignity.

A topical postscriptum, 24.01.2020:

It is hard to believe the issue that yesterday the Tagesschau TV news made of the appearance of the Federal President. Sabine Müller commented on his visit, under the headline „A chance missed, unfortunately“. Her comment is introduced at Tagesschau.de by the following words:

„It was not Federal President Steinmeier’s fault: The commemmoration in Yad Vashem was overshadowed by the egotist apperances of Israel and Russia. A missed chance in the fight agains anti-semitism.“

The comment itself furthermore reads:

„This day in Jerusalem should have been a day of worthy remembrance, and an forceful call for a joint fight against anti-semitism. How sad it is that it did not work convincingly. Yes, much was worthy and convincing, and the German President Steinmeier contributed to it…

… Unworthy though it was how Israel and Russia partly usurped this anniversary.“

We thank Jesko Matthes for the Translation. 

Auf vielfache Anfrage veröffentlichen wir diese englische Übersetzung des Textes zum Besuch von Bundespräsident Steinmeier. Zum Teilen im englischsprachigen Raum, damit die Menschen wissen, dass nicht alle in Deutschland so eitel und verbohrt sind, wie es gerade vorgeführt wurde. Danke an Jesko Matthes für die Übersetzung.