Bavarian Parliament Honors Victims of Nazism, Among Them Greek Theodoros Voulgaridis

In a special memorial ceremony, on December 13 2011, the Bavarian State Parliament, honored the recent victims of nazism, among them being, our compatriot, Theodoros Voulgaridis, who was murdered on June 15, 2005 in Munich.

In her opening address, Speaker of the Bavarian State Parliament, Mrs. Barbara Stamm, expressed the grief and sorrow for the victims and extended her apology to the victims’ relatives. Moreover, she referred to the omissions of German authorities, in regard to the rapid uncovering of the murders and conveyed a message of forging democratic forces to eradicate neo – fascist ideas and far – right wing acts.

A speech followed by Dr. Haci Halil Uslucan, Professor at Duisburg University, who condemned the neo – nazi murders, extensively referred to the major damage caused to the people of Germany and the country by this case, praised the life and work of foreign immigrants in Germany and asked the German society to define better conditions for integration, especially for Turkish immigrants. He also requested more involvement on behalf of German authorities in the struggle against neo – nazism.

The memorial ceremony was enveloped in music by Mozart (1756 – 1791), Pavel Haas (1899 – 1944) and Paul Hindemith (1985 – 1963), performed by musicians and soloists of the Bavarian State Opera.

The ceremony was attended by the Prime Minister of Bavaria, Mr. Seehofer and all members of the Bavarian Government, victims’ relatives, MPs, diplomats, representatives of churches and denominations, and student delegations from Bavaria, who were particularly involved in the struggle against nazism. On behalf of Greece, it was attended by the representative of the Holy Metropolis of Germany and Bavaria Church Head Priest, Apostolos Malamousis and the Consul General of Greece in Munich, Ms. Sophia Grammata.

Bavarian Television was broadcasting the official ceremony live and all Bavarian newspapers dealt extensively with the ceremony. During their one – day stay in Munich, a crew from Greek Television attended the ceremony and interviewed Bavarian Foreign Minister, Mr. Hermann, and visited the place where Theodoros Voulgaridis was murdered and the Church of All Saints to interview acquaintances of our late compatriot, and Bavaria Church Head Priest, Apostolos Malamousis.