“Denial of reality” accuses a group of five leading German historians with social democratic political origins, including Heinrich August Winkler, in a landmark open letter to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the leadership of the Social Democrats.

He is one of the most important German historians, 85 years old today, emeritus professor of History at the Humboldt University of Berlin. He has studied in depth the German history of the 20th century and, among other things, he has written the important work “Weimar. The Disabled Republic 1918-1933” also translated into Greek by “Polis” publications.

Sixty-year long-time member of the Social Democrats, member of the Willy Brandt Foundation and editor of publications with Willy Brandt’s speeches and writings, H. Winkler, had even warned of Vladimir Putin’s expansive territorial appetites as early as 2016. The five Social Democratic Germans academics criticize especially the ambiguous and still unclear attitude of Olaf Solz and the Social Democrats in general towards Kiev.

“Putin is encouraged”

“We are watching with growing concern the SPD’s stance on Ukraine,” the historians report, and speak of “arguments and justifications that are arbitrary, contain inaccuracies and are often factually incorrect.” In fact, they observe that it is not “useful” for Chancellor Scholz to constantly explain “what Germany will not do under any circumstances to support Ukraine”.

However, they comment in a particularly poignant way on the now public disagreement between German Chancellor Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron regarding the sending of long-range Taurus missiles to Ukraine, which probably required the sending of soldiers to the field.

They also appreciate that the open discord between Berlin and Paris is actually striking at the heart of the Franco-German axis, the heart of Europe and encouraging Putin’s plans. “Coordination between Germany and its allies is insufficient,” they note in their letter.

“Fate” the declaration on “freezing the war”

However, they strongly criticize the recent statements of the head of K.O. of the Christian Democrats Rolf Mitsenich about “freezing the war” in Ukraine, with Winkler even characterizing it as a “fatal statement” but also a “short-sighted view of the concept of peace”.

As for the “comrades” of the SPD, the five historians consider that it has not learned from its mistakes.

Apart from Winkler, the letter is co-signed by Jan Klaas Behrens, Gabriele Lingelbach, Martina Winkler and Dirk Schumann. In fact, in their letter they call on the executive council of the Social Democratic Party to take a position.

It is worth noting that this letter also coincides with the announcement by Michael Roth, a leading member of the Social Democrats and head of the crucial parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee, that he will leave active politics after the next federal elections in 2025. Michael Roth has exercised openly pushing for more military support for Kiev, while he has hinted that his early support for Ukraine was something that displeased his party.