New York. In its glass palace,
the 28th United Nation's General Assembly starts
with an act that is celebrated as an historic event:
The entry of new states.
28 years after the end of the Second World War,
Germany received two places
between Gambia and Ghana as new members of the global association.
Otto Winzer, the GDR's Foreign Minister,
his FRG colleague Walter Scheel
and their delegations
were welcomed by the general assembly by acclamation.
The avowal to peace, solidarity and abstinence from violence
were focal points in the speech Willy Brandt held before the UN.
Dear colleagues and friends,
I speak to you as a German and as a European.
To be more precise,
my people live in two states
and yet continue to consider themselves one nation.
At the same time, our part of Europe
is as yet not much more than an economic community,
but it wishes to grow together, in this decade,
as the European Union.
The satisfaction felt
with regard to being received amicably here
is decreased by the division of Europe.
On German soil it finds particularly severe expression,
and after almost three decades since the war,
claims lives again and again.
Admittedly,
in that part of Europe
from where so many tensions have risen,
we have started with a policy of mutual understanding.
As the Federal Republic of Germany,
we will work towards a state of peace in Europe,
where the German people,
in free self-determination, can once again
achieve unification.
We have come here
to share responsibility in the global political sphere,
based on our convictions,
and within our capabilities.
And may I ask the following:
If the world does not manage
to fend off violence
and, finally, to ostracise it efficiently,
how does it then hope to solve issues of peace?
As these issues, free and far from violence,
demand all our energies.
And please allow me
to say the following with necessary clarity:
Hardship is conflict.
Where there is hunger,
there cannot be long-term peace.
Where there is bitter poverty,
there is no justice.
Where the existence of basic needs is threatened on a daily basis,
one cannot talk of security.
When faced with hardship,
there must not be resignation.
Copyright © 2012 TITELBILD, Berlin Subtitles: L. Corper et al.