Kenneth Glad
Berlin police will again restrict Russian, Soviet and related symbols at several World War II memorial events on May 8 and 9, citing fears of intimidation and clashes at major Soviet memorials. The decision has drawn anger from Moscow and renewed debate over how Germany should handle wartime remembrance while Russia’s war against Ukraine continues.
The restrictions will apply around Soviet memorial sites in Berlin such as Treptower Park, Tiergarten and Schönholzer Heide, according to Berlin police orders cited by United24 Media.
The measures cover Russian, Belarusian, Soviet and Chechen flags, military uniforms, military insignia, St. George ribbons, and the letters “Z” and “V,” which have become widely associated with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Authorities also intend to restrict Russian military songs and marches, as well as maps or symbols presenting occupied Ukrainian regions as part of Russia.
The independent outlet reports that Ukrainian symbols are not included in the ban after appeals from Ukrainian organizations in Germany.
Berlin police said large gatherings at the memorials could become flashpoints for rival political groups. They also argued that symbols once treated as historical displays must now be judged in light of the current war and the large number of Ukrainian refugees in the city.
Moscow objects
The Russian embassy in Germany condemned the decision in a statement cited by Digi24, calling Berlin’s approach “absurdity” and “cynicism.”
The embassy said the measures ‘aim exclusively to deprive the descendants of Soviet liberator soldiers, concerned citizens and visitors to Berlin of their right to commemorate with dignity the anniversary of the destruction of Nazism.
It called for the restrictions to be lifted and urged Germany to recognize Nazi crimes “as genocide committed against the peoples of the Soviet Union.”
The embassy’s reaction reflects a long-running Russian position that Victory Day commemorations should remain centered on the Soviet role in defeating Nazi Germany.
Berlin’s current approach, however, places that history inside a much more sensitive present-day security context.
War memory dispute
In Defence of Communism criticized the restrictions as an attack on Soviet anti-fascist history, arguing that German authorities are diminishing the Red Army’s role in the defeat of Nazism.
Security analysts at the Robert Lansing Institute have taken a different view, arguing that Moscow uses World War II memory, Soviet symbols and diaspora events as tools of political influence in Europe.
That disagreement is now at the heart of the Berlin dispute. For critics of the ban, Soviet symbols mark sacrifice and liberation. For German authorities, some of the same displays can also serve as political signals connected to Russia’s current war.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, German authorities have treated some Soviet-era displays as potential political symbols rather than only acts of remembrance.
Sources: Digi24, United24 Media, In Defence of Communism, Robert Lansing Institute.
