Germany creates national day of remembrance for terror victims

The German cabinet decided on Wednesday to introduce a a national day of remembrance for victims of terrorist violence to be observed in Germany every year on March 11.
The victims of terror attacks will be officially remembered for the first time this year, with flags to fly at half mast on all government buildings.
"This day will be a day of remembrance, of sympathy, but also a reminder to act with all our might against terrorist threats," Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said.
In choosing the date, the German government took its lead from the European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Terrorism, which was introduced following the Islamist attacks in Madrid on March 11, 2004.
Since 2018, the German government's Victims' Commissioner has been made responsible for the concerns of the victims of terrorist and extremist attacks in Germany.
In January, MP Pascal Kober took over these duties. He told dpa: "The establishment of the office of the Federal Commissioner is a signal by the state that says terrorist attacks are directed against all of us, against our values of plurality and religious freedom, against democracy and the rule of law."
The state had a special responsibility to stand with terror victims and to support them fully, Kober said.
"The Day of Remembrance is an important sign for the victims and their relatives," said Alexander Throm, the spokesperson on domestic policy for the conservative CDU/CSU parliamentary group. Too often, he said, attention is focused on the perpetrators of attacks rather than on the victims.