May 8, 1945 marks the end of World War II in Europe. For most Germans at the time, it meant total defeat. The state had collapsed, its future determined by victorious Allied powers. Yet over decades, the meaning of that day changed profoundly.

In West Germany, the interpretation of May 8 was long contested: was it a national catastrophe or liberation from a criminal regime? A decisive turning point came in 1985, when President Richard von Weizsäcker declared before the Bundestag in an emotional speech: “May 8th was a day of liberation.” These words reshaped German historical consciousness.

Today, this understanding is widely accepted: Germany was not foremost defeated – it was freed from its own tyranny.

This transformation of memory was not symbolic. It was foundational.

The Battle Over Narrative

The events of October 7, 2023 have been framed by Hamas and countless useful fools around the globe  as “resistance.” This narrative illustrates a familiar historical pattern: the moral inversion of violence.

Totalitarian regimes have repeatedly portrayed aggression as defense. Nazi Germany justified its war of annihilation and the mass murder of millions of Jews and Slavs as preemptive self-defense. Such narratives are not incidental – they are strategic. They legitimize violence and embed it into political identity.

The decisive battlefield is not only military but historical. The long-term trajectory of Palestinian society will depend on how October 7 is ultimately understood.

Germany offers another lesson here. After World War I, the “stab-in-the-back” myth reframed military defeat as betrayal from within. This narrative undermined democracy and helped pave the way for the rise of National Socialism in........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)