German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has said in an interview that “it's time finally find the strength to do what our partners are already doing” and send Taurus missiles to Ukraine. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova took to Telegram to ask Baerbock some uncomfortable questions about the Nazi past.
“First, isn’t it time to abolish the status of honorary resident to Hitler and other criminals of the Third Reich?” Zakharova asked, referring to the fact that many cities in western Germany have yet to “shy away from a legal break with the Nazi past” and continue to commemorate Nazi leaders with honorary titles.
“Second, isn’t it time to rename German military bases named after Wehrmacht soldiers and officers?” the spokeswoman inquired, pointing out the Bundeswehr has about 40 barracks bearing the names of Nazi military leaders, including Adolf Heusinger, a general who helped planned the invasion of the USSR, who went on to chair the NATO Military Committee, and East Front General Hans Speidel, who commanded forces in Operation Citadel.
“Third, isn’t it time to stop spending federal and regional budget money maintaining Nazi graves?” Zakharova asked, pointing out that a significant number of graves, including of SS and NSDAP members, and even the former concentration camp commandants, are cared for at public expense.
“Fourth, is it not time to stop supporting SS veterans at the legislative level in Germany?” the spokesman wondered, noting that “tens of thousands of former SS members and their relatives receive social benefits in Germany as ‘victims of war’.”
“Fifth, isn’t it time for Germany to pay compensation to the survivors of the Leningrad Siege, no matter their nationality?” Zakharova asked, pointing out that while Berlin has agreed to pay the Siege’s Jewish victims, it continues to ignore “the suffering of the remaining residents of Leningrad,” and refuses to recognize the Siege as genocide, “even though historians estimate that more civilians died from the blockade than in the hell of Hamburg, Dresden, Tokyo, Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined.”
Zakharova has been outspoken in her criticism of Berlin over what she has characterized as attempts to whitewash Nazi crimes against Russia and the former Soviet Union, as well as the German government's support for neo-Nazi radicals in the NATO-sponsored proxy war against Russia in Ukraine.
"Berlin supports militants who hold neo-Nazi torch-lit parades, glorify World War II criminals, use SS division insignia and patches and put Wehrmacht symbols on Western-supplied military equipment," the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said in January.
In March, Zakharova slammed the German interior minister's comments about Germany's so-called "special responsibility to protect Jews and the State of Israel," including through financial compensation for the Holocaust, suggesting that "paying compensation to victims of Nazi brutalities of only one nationality and bearing a 'historical responsibility' to citizens of only one state is a repetition of crimes and mistakes of 80 years ago."
In August, she recalled the uncomfortable fact that although Nazi forces have been condemned as war criminals by historians, the connivance of the Western allies nevertheless resulted in many of them joining the ranks of the West German military during the Cold War.
Germany has been the second-biggest contributor of military assistance to Ukraine throughout the current crisis, according to Kiel Institute for the World Economy figures, contributing some €10.6 billion ($11.1 billion) in arms since January 2022.
That includes weapons systems which have served as the backbone of Ukraine's ground forces, including Leopard 1 and 2 main battle tanks, Flakpanzer Gepard anti-aircraft guns, Panzerhaubitze 2000 self-propelled howitzers and Schutzenpanzer Marder infantry fighting vehicles.