Germany pays tribute to war dead

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Sunday laid a wreath for the victims of German war aggression as the country marked Volkstrauertag, or the people's day of mourning.

Steinmeier, along with several national and state politicians, visited Berlin's Neue Wache (new guard) building in the morning for the remembrance ceremony, before heading to the lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, to give a speech.

Not all Nazi atrocities remembered

He said while Nazi-era crimes in western and central Europe form part of the country's collective memory, many Germans struggle to recall the atrocities committed in eastern and southern Europe.

"Earlier this year, when we commemorated the 80th anniversary of the [Nazi] invasion of the Soviet Union, ... many of us had to admit to ourselves that the places that were on the German Wehrmacht's advance through Poland, the Baltic States and Belarus, through Ukraine into Russia and deep into the Caucasus — that these places mean nothing to us," Steinmeier said.

"The same is true for many places in former Yugoslavia and Greece, which were also invaded 80 years ago."

Steinmeier spoke of the "tens of thousands of civilians who fell victim to German firing squads," as well as the "crimes committed against civilians, forced laborers and Soviet prisoners of war," including "hundreds of thousands of who died in the first months after the invasion: Starved, beaten to death, shot."

"Knowing the names of these places makes a difference, for our self-image as a nation as well as for a common understanding as Europeans," Steinmeier said. "If we want to remember, we also need to know what connects these places to the present."

Defending Bundeswehr missions

Steinmeier also spoke of the unease felt by many Germans over the deployment of the present-day armed forces, the Bundeswehr, to conflict zones around the world, considering the country's past.

"Accepting responsibility for history should not mean shying away from dealing with current conflicts and those who bear responsibility for them," the president stressed.

Steinmeier also paid tribute to the German War Graves Commission, which has worked for decades to create and maintain places where historic wartime enemies can commemorate their dead.

Germany's Volkstrauertag remembers armed forces of all nations and civilians who died in conflicts, including victims of violent oppression. It has been marked since 1952.

Queen misses UK Remembrance Sunday

Britain, meanwhile, marked Remembrance Day for its fallen soldiers on Sunday with a service at the Cenotaph war memorial in central London.

However, Queen Elizabeth missed the ceremony due to a "sprained back," Buckingham Palace said.

The service, one of the most important on the 95-year-old monarch's calendar, was to be her first planned public appearance since resting on medical advice and following a recent stay in hospital.

The remembrance service, which follows Armistice Day on November 11, is traditionally marked by the wearing of poppies and a national two-minute silence observed at 11 a.m local time (1100 UTC).

mm/aw (AFP, dpa, KNA, EPD)