NEWPORT, R.I. – A German commemoration honoring all those who died in war or through oppressive rule was held at Island Cemetery Sunday, at the graves of German sailors who died in World War II.
The Volkstrauertag, a German tradition held wherever there is a German military member buried and a German officer to honor him or her, means “peoples day of mourning,” and has been held since the end of World War I.
“Wherever we have fallen comrades, we will commemorate them,” said Cmdr. Volker Blasche, a senior German officer in the region and organizer of the event. “We also honor those victims who died by oppressive rule. Six million killed in the concentration camps during World War II is a stark reminder of our responsibility to never let this happen again.”
The event is for everyone who has felt the impact of war and oppressive regimes.
“It is important to remember what war is all about,” he added. “It might be a day of national mourning in Germany, but it is also a very personal business, and each death affects many people.”
During his speech, Blasche, a student at U.S. Naval War College (NWC), explained that the ceremony is a chance to focus on self, family and loved ones.
“The Volkstrauertag is not only a national day of commemoration, but it is so much more a day of personal contemplation,” he said in his speech. “It is also a day to remind ourselves of our core human values which all of us hold as self-evident truth, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
Blasche also asked for a minute of silence to honor the victims of terror attacks in Paris.
This year’s ceremony had a very special international flavor, as Blasche asked NWC students from other countries to participate by reading Psalms 23 from the Bible.
“We had an officer from the Royal Navy read the Psalm in English,” said Blasche. “We had a French officer read it in French, and then an Israeli officer read the verse in Hebrew.”
This was important to show that there is a common connection among military members and families affected by war, according to Blasche.
“It symbolizes something very powerful,” he said. “That 70 years later, while we are all speaking the same Psalm in different languages, there is a common cultural understanding.”
Psalms 23 reads in part, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”