“...depends on what it means to be a German patriot. ...”
At this point, I’d say ANY Kraut that blows up a statue of a communist/socialist is a Patriot.
heard it on two major radio news bulletins on BBC World Service in the last 24 hours. no mention of “far-left”, “controversial” or opposition, though. just straight news reporting as if it was perfectly normal:
21 Jun: BBC: Gelsenkirchen: Controversial Lenin statue erected in German city
PIC: The statue was unveiled next to a poster that reads: ‘Don’t give anti-communism a chance’
A far-left party in Germany has erected a controversial statue of communist leader Vladimir Lenin.
The tiny Marxist-Leninist Party of Germany (MLPD) installed the statue in front of its headquarters in the western city of Gelsenkirchen.
City authorities had attempted to stop the statue being installed and launched an online hashtag saying there was “no place for Lenin”.
But courts blocked their appeals and the unveiling went ahead on Saturday...
In the debate surrounding the Gelsenkirchen statue, which was made in Czechoslovakia, as it was then known, in 1957, both sides drew parallels to the tearing down of monuments linked to slavery which has taken place in anti-racism protests across the world in recent weeks.
VIDEO: Protesters across America toppled statues associated with slavery
“We live in a time in which many countries of the world are reflecting on memorials,” said mayor Frank Baranowski in one of a series of YouTube videos posted by the city council against the statue.
“It’s hard to put up with the fact that a dictator from the 21st Century is being placed on a pedestal and a memorial is being made out of it. Unfortunately the courts have decided otherwise, we must accept that, but not without comment.”
However, MLPD’s chair, Gabi Fechtner, described the communist leader as “an ahead-of-his-time thinker of world-historical importance, an early fighter for freedom and democracy”, according to the AFP news agency.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-53123947
video in above doesn’t work for me, but it does below. looks like a BBC celebration.
last week a BBC World Service host seemed concerned, when talking to a Dem guy from some org or another, that there were still confederate statues standing, as if there was still work to do:
VIDEO: 1m20s: 20 Jun: BBC: Protesters topple statues across US
Protesters topple statues in US states
Juneteenth marks the end of slavery in the United States of America and falls on 19 June.
Events to commemorate the day this year saw hundreds of protesters gather in several states to topple statues associated with slavery.
One was as high as 75-feet tall, and another was set on fire.
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-53119969/protesters-topple-statues-in-us-states