Anniversary of Bid to Kill Hitler Marked
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EAST BERLIN — Both German states shared a rare moment of pride from their dark past Friday, commemorating the 46th anniversary of an attempt to kill Adolf Hitler.
East German lawmakers stood in salute of the people who planned and carried out the failed assassination attempt on the Nazi dictator on July 20, 1944.
“The heritage of these men and women of July 20 should oblige us to fight dictatorships in every form, to keep peace in Germany and Europe forever,” said a declaration endorsed by all parties in Parliament.
West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl also praised the assassination plotters in a statement from the West German capital, Bonn.
“The men and women of the German resistance gave in dark times a shining example of their unshakable yearning for freedom,” he said.
Eighteen people were executed for complicity in the assassination attempt that was planned by several high-ranking German officers.
The attempt was made after the Germany army suffered several military reverses.
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