French President Emmanuel Macron has emphasized Franco-German reconciliation as the foundation of a common Europe at the site of the worst Nazi massacre by SS troops in France during the World War II.
"In this reconciliation lies the friendship between Germany and France and our Europe," said Macron on Monday at a commemoration in Oradour-sur-Glane in western France, which was also attended by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
On June 10, 1944, members of an SS division killed 643 inhabitants and burned down the town in western France.
"The massacres of Oradour belong to the realm of the unthinkable, the unspeakable, the unjustifiable," said Macron in the village, the ruins of which have been preserved as a memorial to this day. "We will remember Oradour, always, because history never begins anew."
"And in this memory, in the ashes of Oradour, we must revive the strength of this reconciliation, the root of our European project and our still existing will for freedom, equality and fraternity."
In his commemorative speech on Monday, Steinmeier also mentioned the importance of European collaboration: "Our mission is the European Union."
The president called for the defence of an open-minded and peaceful Europe, following the electoral success of the far-right in the EU election. "Let us never forget what nationalism and hatred have done to Europe," Steinmeier said.
"Let us never forget the miracle of reconciliation that the European Union has achieved. Let us protect our united Europe! And let us never forget the value of freedom."
Far-right parties won the European elections in France and Italy. In Germany, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) became the second strongest party behind the conservative CDU/CSU block.
Steinmeier sharply criticized the fact that the murderers of the 1944 massacre were never punished in Germany. He expressed shame that they had escaped justice and that the most serious crimes had not been atoned for. "Here my country has once again brought a second guilt upon itself."
Macron thanked Steinmeier for delivering his commemorative speech in Oradour-sur-Glane in French. From a place of shame, Oradour had become a place of hope and finally a place of reconciliation over the course of many decades, he said. "Our two peoples look at Oradour hand in hand and side by side."
