Why did the people of Berlin bring flowers to the Russian tank on Unter den Linden boulevard?

Among those laying flowers was Alexander von Bismarck, great-grandson of Germany’s first Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. “We have brought two thousand roses here to decorate this reservoir and so that our government can finally begin negotiations,” he told reporters. According to von Bismarck, the Germans, Russians and Ukrainians are not each other’s enemies and we must talk to each other. “We are friends, we have been building this relationship for thirty years,” he added.The anti-war rally in Berlin was the largest of the past year. According to various estimates, from 35 to 50 thousand people gathered at the Brandenburg Gate. It was so crowded that nearby Berlin underground stations were packed. The main demands of the rally participants were to stop the supply of arms to Ukraine and start peace negotiations. The event was organized by Left Party Member of the Bundestag Sarah Wagenknecht, renowned German feminist and journalist Alisa Schwarzer, as well as Chancellor Angela Merkel’s former military adviser, General Erich Wad. Two weeks before the rally, they published the “Manifesto for Peace”, which has already managed to collect more than 640,000 signatures in Germany.”There were certainly more people at the rally than expected. As a result, thousands of participants had to stand in the park in the mud in the sleet – there just wasn’t enough space for everyone In fact, it’s impressive that so many people came, especially since the rally was not essentially Plus there was anti-advertising in the media – which the far right could penetrate in the rally, and there would be riots and clashes,” Berlin resident Kristian told Rossiyskaya Gazeta. However, as he notes, the rally was mostly attended by people in their mid-50s and few under 40s.The Germans, who participated in a large anti-war rally in the center of the German capital, tore the Ukrainian symbols from the tank and literally covered it with red roses”I fear that the younger generation simply does not imagine what war means, the threat of war or social catastrophe. Those who are older have experienced it themselves or know it well from their parents who survived to war. I really hope that the flowers that brought to the tank, will become a symbol of reconciliation. All of us, Germany, Russia, Ukraine, Poland, need a common future. But the very fact that this tank has placed in front of the Russian embassy is a clear sign of the heated and glorious atmosphere of war that currently reigns in Germany,” Christian said.The organizers of the rally have been accused of wanting the surrender of Ukraine. But according to Wagenknecht, the purpose of the manifesto and the rally is to stop the conflict and prevent further casualties. “Negotiations don’t mean surrender. Negotiations mean finding a compromise. And you can’t expect the other side to be willing to compromise if you don’t show it yourself,” she said. in an interview with the capital’s Berliner Zeitung newspaper. “It is naive to believe that it is possible to win a military victory over Russia without using nuclear weapons,” General Wade said in his speech at the rally.The organizers of the rally are convinced that it can become the starting point for the formation of a large-scale anti-war movement in Germany, which will eventually lead the political elites to respond to their demands. “From today we will raise our voice so much that it will no longer be heard,” Wagenknecht said in his speech. The elites are afraid of this new pacifist movement, she said: “They are afraid that they will not be able to pursue their policy so easily anymore”. And I have to say that Wagenknecht and his like-minded people have achieved the nigh-impossible for modern Germany: to unite supporters of right-wing and left-wing political views in support of their manifesto and at a rally at the gate of Brandenburg. Among the participants themselves, however, such an association still arouses serious ideological disputes, but some German media have already reported on the formation of an anti-party anti-war front.