Look what is coming.
Any German official should take pains not to offend Holocaust survivors, who can be in any audience. And it was certainly unwise of this man not to throw in the standard Holocaust-sensitive comments when delivering his own (rarely heard, and, in that sense, more important) message. But it's hard for me to feel much angst for the offended parties. There has -- rightly -- been no shortage of sympathy and recognition for Holocaust survivors, for the last 60 years. What has been very short is official and well-publicized sympathy and recognition for other victims of the era -- the innocent, or largely innocent civilians who died on both sides in WW II, and of course the tens of millions of victims of communism. Where the hell is their memorial? I would be nice to see not just one, but several; and not just a few commemorative ceremonies, but many; and not just a few poorly publicized documentaries and movies, but many major ones.