The photos in the exhibition we have just viewed give us an idea of what happened in this place, but pictures and photos cannot convey the full dimension of the horror. And yet, whoever passes through this exhibition here in the town hall will be hard pressed to find words afterwards. Imagining the true extent of the barbarity is unbearable. The suffering of the families leaves us stunned. I am appalled by what was written – in my own language – on the signs erected by the Wehrmacht. And I am filled with shame – after all, these signs show that the German Wehrmacht even believed they were entitled to destroy the place so completely that it could never again be rebuilt. Here, the perpetrators themselves documented just how shameless and criminal Germany’s war of conquest, occupation and destruction was.

It is a difficult path to come to this place and to speak here as President of the Federal Republic of Germany. At the same time, I cannot be here in Crete, without visiting this site of German shame. I would particularly like to thank you, the survivors and families of the victims from all the villages that were attacked and destroyed by German soldiers at that time. Thank you for being here, and thank you for allowing me to be here. I am aware that the suffering, the pain lives on in your families. And yet you have reached out the hand of reconciliation to us, and for that I am grateful to you.

Kandanos was one of the first Cretan villages to be razed to the ground by German soldiers, members of the Wehrmacht, during the Second World War. The 3rd company of the 55th Motorcycle Battalion, a paratrooper platoon and two groups of the mountain pioneers committed horrific, brutal crimes. They burned down the houses. They killed the livestock. They shot all the villagers they encountered, primarily women and old people. The only people who managed to escape were those who happened to be away from the village or were able to get away just in time.

One day earlier, the German soldiers had already wreaked devastation on Kondomari and Alikianos. Dozens more places followed: Kakopetros, Floria, Anogia and Viannos – I can only cite a few examples of many here. In Crete alone, Germans in the Second World War murdered thousands of civilians. Old people. Clergy. Women and men. Children and babies. And we cannot commemorate those people today without calling to mind the Jews of Crete. They were all deported. The brutality, the savagery, the contempt for human life shown by the German occupiers still take my breath away today.

Throughout Europe there are places like this, places which were destroyed and their inhabitants murdered by the Germans in the Second World War as an act of revenge. Some of the names of these villages are better known. Other names, however, have been forgotten in Europe and particularly in my country. Sadly, so many places in Greece are among them. They are impossible to count. That is why it is so important to be here today.

The Wehrmacht took brutal revenge in these places. The Germans had already completely underestimated the military resistance of the Greeks, the British and their allies when they occupied Crete. But what they certainly had not reckoned with was the courage and spirit of resistance of the people of Crete. The Greeks know that the term "hero" should be used with restraint. Yet the women and men who defended their homeland against the German occupation were true heroes!

The Germans were merciless in their response to this unexpected resistance. The soldiers had every reason to be confident that they would not be called to account for these crimes. For they were acting under orders from their commander, Lieutenant-General Kurt Student. He ordered punitive measures to be taken against the population and expressly stated that the troops should, disregarding all formalities and deliberately excluding special tribunals, impose punishment with the extremest severity. His soldiers carried out this command in cold blood.

Although Kurt Student was found guilty by a British military court in Lüneburg after the war, he was only convicted of the crimes perpetrated against British prisoners of war. Today, we know that he was released early and was able to live untroubled in the Federal Republic for many years. He was never held to account for the crimes against the Greek civilian population.

When I speak here today, I also have to mention this shameful chapter – our treatment of a Nazi war criminal. It is the second burden of guilt that Germany has incurred. Of that, too, I am ashamed.

Και γι΄ αυτό θα ήθελα σήμερα να ζητήσω συγχώρεση στο όνομα της Γερμανίας. (I would like to ask for your forgiveness today on behalf of Germany.)

I ask you, the survivors and descendants, for your forgiveness for the heinous crimes perpetrated here by Germans. I ask for forgiveness for the fact that over many decades my country failed to punish these crimes. That after the war it initially turned a blind eye and remained silent.

We cannot undo the suffering. We will probably never be able to properly make up for it. But we must keep its memory alive to ensure that what happened once does not happen again. Without remembrance, there is no future. No future together and in peace. That is why it is so important for us to gather today to remember the crimes of that time. And for us to pass on this remembrance to the next generations.

I hope that we will find the strength to assume this responsibility together. Yes, particularly because we hold differing standpoints on individual issues. All the more, then, do we need the commitment, the will, the ideas, to work seriously to build bridges to each other in a spirit of trust.

The German-Greek Future Fund has been working since 2014 to this end, to establish just such a common culture of remembrance and thus a common future.

Our responsibility stems from this darkest chapter of German history. The responsibility to stand up for the freedom and dignity of every individual. And the responsibility to stand up for democracy. For these values form the basis of our shared Europe. They are values and achievements that we owe to Ancient Greece. Where, if not here, would it be more appropriate to call them to mind? Our two countries know that democracy, once achieved, is not of itself guaranteed. We know that we have to protect and defend it – now more than ever, when this democracy is again being called into question in many countries of the European Union, where anti-democratic forces are gaining support, unfortunately also in my country.

Particularly in a place like this, here in Kandanos, we sense that we Europeans can only enjoy a common future, a future in peace and freedom, if we protect and defend democracy, if we protect and defend our values. This historical responsibility remains. At no point can we draw a line under it.

In my country, in Germany, few people know about the crimes of the Wehrmacht against the Greek civilian population and the murder of the Greek Jews in the Holocaust. And few know about the terrible famine during the German occupation. The fact that there has been a German-Greek Youth Office for several years now is therefore important. Not only does it create an opportunity for personal interaction and friendship between young Germans and Greeks. It also helps to pass on the knowledge of the crimes perpetrated by the Germans to young people. Young people need to know what happened to ensure that it does not happen again.

Thank you all once again most sincerely for allowing me to be here today. I bow my head in sorrow and respect for the victims.

Kandanos was rebuilt, despite the suffering, despite the atrocities. That, too, was a brave and indeed heroic step. Kandanos is a warning to us to uphold peace and freedom in Europe. This mandate remains. That is our task for a common future.