German book trade Peace Prize winners slam AfD
October 15, 2018
Aleida and Jan Assmann stressed the importance of collective memory and warned against "excessive patriotism," in a speech they gave to accept the German book trade's Peace Prize award in Frankfurt on Sunday.
"In democracy, thought cannot be delegated and left up to experts, performers or demagogues," the couple said, speaking at Frankfurt's historic St Paul's Church.
Aleida Assmann, a 71-year-old literary scholar and her 80-year-old husband, Jan, an Egyptologist, have both studied the question of how identity and consciousness in human cultures and societies are formed.
Read more: Opinion: Frankfurt Book Fair 2018 is more political than ever
Criticism of the AfD
In Sunday's speech, the couple stood up against resurgent nationalist forces. "We can no longer seamlessly follow old fantasies of pride and greatness of the nation," the Assmanns stressed.
To the scholarly couple, national memory is "not just a pedestal that makes the nation bigger and more powerful, but also a mirror of self-knowledge, remorse and change."
On the debate over Germany's collective memory, Aleida Assmann referenced the AfD's attempts to reject Germany's cultural remembrance of the Holocaust, when party leader Alexander Gauland said that the Nazi period was just "bird shit" in the country's history.
Read more: Nazi 'bird shit' and the limits of free speech in Germany
"The nation is not a Holy Grail that needs to be saved from staining and desecration - keyword: bird shit - but a group of people who also remember shameful episodes in their history and assume responsibility for the monstrous crimes committed in their name," she said.
While history can be shameful, "the liberating memory we share with the victims" is not, the scholar concluded.
Defending democratic values
In their speech, the Assmanns urged for citizens to form a basic consensus in democracy, based on the values of the constitution and the separation of powers. Those who do not adhere to such values, the couple stressed, cannot be at the helm of democratic institutions.
"Not every dissenting opinion deserves respect," the couple said, drawing applause from attendees. In particular, the Assmanns were critical of those who currently undermine freedom of expression.
They concluded that events such as the racially motivated clashes during right-wing protests in the eastern German city of Chemnitz this year were the kind of episodes that "paralyze democracy."
Read more: Defining what it means to be German in a unified country
Together 'from breakfast to dinner'
Winning the prestigious peace award was an "overwhelming surprise," said Aleida Assmann. The couple have been married since 1968 and have always collaborated academically.
"We have always wanted to work together," she said prior to delivering the joint speech. "Of course we talked to each other from breakfast to dinner," her husband added.
The Peace Prize of the German Book Trade is worth €25,000 ($29,000) and is one of the country's most important cultural awards, honoring writers, philosophers and scientists from Germany and abroad since 1950.
The Assmanns have said they will use the prize money to support three initiatives that focus on helping refugees, two of them are in Germany and one in Kenya.
jcg/aw (dpa, KNA)