Quotes by Richard von Weizsaecker

All of us, whether guilty or not, whether old or young, must accept the past. It is not a case of coming to terms with the past. That is not possible. It cannot be subsequently modified or undone.

Seeking to forget makes exile all the longer; the secret of redemption lies in remembrance.

There were many ways of not burdening one's conscience, of shunning responsibility, looking away, keeping mum. When the unspeakable truth of the Holocaust then became known at the end of the war, all too many of us claimed that they had not known anything about it or even suspected anything.

Whoever refuses to remember the inhumanity is prone to new risks of infection.