Commemorations and vigils will be held across Germany on Monday as the world commemorates the first anniversary of unprecedented terrorist attacks on Israel by the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Activists gathered at the Brandenburg Gate in central Berlin to read out the names of 1,170 people murdered and 255 kidnapped in Israel on October 7, 2023.
The commemoration began at 5:29 a.m. (03:29 GMT) as part of a coordinated effort that took place simultaneously in dozens of cities around the world and marked the moment the attack began.
Organizers said the purpose of the event was to “share the sorrow of the Jewish people, stand in solidarity with the Jewish state regardless of current politics, and raise voices against anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism.”
Later, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier is expected to speak at an interfaith service at the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin.
The participants then walk in silence to the nearby Jewish Community Center. An additional commemorative event will take place in front of the building.
In Hamburg, a commemoration ceremony is planned at the Hohe Weide Synagogue, where Chancellor Olaf Scholz will also make a statement.
Further services are planned in many other cities, including the Ohel Jakob Synagogue in Munich.
Several pro-Palestinian rallies will also be held in cities including Berlin, where a demonstration against the war in Gaza – which broke out after the October 7 attacks – was halted on Sunday after some of the 3,500 participants clashed with police.
Authorities in the German capital deployed more than 2,000 officers on Monday in an attempt to secure the vigils and keep the peace.
Hamas’ attack on communities and a music festival in southern Israel is considered the worst mass attack on Jews since Nazi-era crimes.
About 100 hostages taken by the terrorist group are believed to remain in captivity in the Gaza Strip, although it is unclear whether they are still alive.
Israel’s subsequent war in Gaza has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, leading to international condemnation and fears of a regional escalation, which has only been exacerbated by the Israeli army’s recent offensive in Lebanon and a barrage of rockets fired at Israel from Iran.
The aftermath of October 7 has proven particularly sensitive in Germany, which sees Israel’s security as a “reason of state” – a phrase that refers to Berlin’s historical responsibility to the Jewish community and the State of Israel after the Holocaust.
However, the country’s significant Muslim minority and pro-Palestinian activists have been alienated by what they see as the German government’s failure to address the suffering of Palestinian civilians in Gaza.
