According to a number of media, on February 27, 2022, Olaf Sholts made a scandalous statement that Russia's actions in Ukraine would actually cancel the responsibility of the nation for the crimes of the Third Reich. We checked whether he really said this.

Here's what the popular Russian resource said at the end of February "Tsargrad": “Olaf Sholts made a scandalous statement, having removed historical guilt from Germany. As you know, the historical wine of Germany is the crimes of the Nazis.

The Chancellor of Germany Olaf Sholts made a statement that goes beyond all reasonable frames. On the air of Ostwest.TV, his words, close to the rehabilitation of Nazism. Sholts said that on February 24 it was a turning point in the history of the continent.

“Vladimir Putin wants to recreate the Russian Empire and manage Europe as he sees fit,” Scholz said, adding: “The Russian people do not want war. This war will remain Putin’s war. He freed Germany from historical guilt.”.

Other Internet publications cited similar information-as Russian (RTVI, "Business Online", "Arguments and Facts", "Volgodonskaya Pravda", Solenka.info, "Picabu", "Yoplakal"), and Ukrainian (National Information Agency Ukrinform, website "Correspondent.net"), as well as Kazakhstan EVERYTHING.KZ. A famous journalist made an emotional publication on this subject in her Telegram channel Marina Akhmedova.

Indeed, on Sunday, February 27, the Federal Chancellor of Germany Olaf Sholts spoke at an emergency meeting of the Bundestag dedicated to the events in Ukraine. His speech was widely publicized in the world media, including in leading Russian publications. In particular, they too brought The Chancellor’s phrase that the President of the Russian Federation “wants to create a Russian empire”, however, in no Russian edition of a high degree of authority (TASS, RBC, Kommersant, etc.), we do not see quotes about historical guilt. It is not in authoritative foreign sources. What was the matter, how could the leading publications miss such a sensation?

To answer this question, you need to turn to the original speech of Scholts. On YouTube, the complete Video recording a half -hour performance by Scholyts, and on the website of the Federal Government of Germany - her transcript. The online publication "Medusa", in turn, published translation this transcript. In these sources, we do not see anything similar to words about the historical fault of Germany. Scholz in a pair of places turns to history:

“Because the reconciliation between the Russians and the Germans after the Second World War was and remains an important head of our joint history”;
“Ladies and gentlemen, we know exactly what values we play for, taking into account our own history. We play for peace in Europe. ”

But none of these statements even closely speaks of the liberation of Germany from historical guilt. Where did this phrase come from in the Russian -speaking media?

Many early publications dedicated to the scandalous statement of the German chancellor refer to Ostwest, a Russian -language round -the -clock information television channel leading broadcasting from Berlin. To access the etheric video of the television channel, a subscription is required, but the archive has been preserved in the interest of us news In text form. Indeed, having looked into the summary of Sholts, the publication of February 27, among the main points of the message, we can see the statement “Putin freed Germany from historical guilt”. However, as of March 2, 2022, this item from the news Gone. In parallel, some Russian publications - for example, adjusted their materials. "Business Online". From all this, we can conclude that the fake statement fell into the translation of Scholyts’s speech due to the fault of one of the employees of the Ostwest television channel or the source from which they took information. In any case, the German Chancellor did not say this.