DThe Ministry of Foreign Affairs supplemented its understanding of its historical responsibilities with the names of German diplomats who were dismissed and persecuted due to the race laws of the time during the period of National Socialism. In front of the historic headquarters of the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs at 92 Wilhelmstraße (previously house 76) in Berlin, 56 stumbling blocks have been lying since Friday, listing the names of those who have been persecuted, and The name of a resistance fighter who has long been honored in Germany. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs during the Nazi period.
The impetus to commemorate the persecuted diplomats came from the office’s archives. On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs last year, its employee Martin Kroger also commemorated the diplomats who came to power after the office staff magazine National. Socialists have lost their status. Many of them emigrated abroad or stayed where they were released. One of them was Friedrich Leyen, who later changed his name to Friedrich Leyen. He went to the Netherlands and was deported from there to Theresiensch in April 1943. Tate (Theresienstadt), where he died a few months later.
Archivist Kleger’s annual report stated that “the whole range of agreement, opportunism, and indifference” was embodied on William Street at the time. It went on to say, “Their cosmopolitanism has not prevented diplomats from serving the dictatorship and cooperating with their crimes, nor has it prevented them from taking the initiative on their own.” The fate of the removed and the degree of persecution are also very different.
In response to this contribution, an initiative was launched by employees of the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs a year ago. They cooperated with the initiator of the Stolperstein initiative. Gunter Deminig, build connection. They agreed to allow stumbling blocks made of brass as the names of 56 persecuted persons who can still be identified from the office files in front of the historical address of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and to add a stumbling block with a statement. An employee of the office was considered ” They are persecuted by National Socialists because of their beliefs, origin, ancestry, political attitude, sexual orientation, and world outlook.”
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The Ministry of Foreign Affairs began its efforts to deal with its history in the Third Reich and its crimes under the Nazi dictatorship 15 years ago. A committee of historians conducted extensive research on the functions of the William Street office in the era of National Socialism. Later, 12 men and 1 woman were awarded the honor of resistance fighters, and their names were engraved on the inscription wall in the office. Miguel Berger, State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said as he uncovered the stumbling block, the authorities themselves “it will take many years” to deal with their role in the era of National Socialism. Today, the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs is “actively committed to diversity.” Berger specifically mentioned the two groups “Diplomats of Color” and “Rainbow”, which are a mixture of homosexual or diverse employees in the office. He said that these measures “have made important contributions to ensuring that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs becomes a modern and open institution and actively communicates with the foreign society it represents.”
