Translated using Deepl. Attached below is the original speech in German
Dear friends,
6 August 1945, 8.15 am, a sunny day in Hiroshima, already hot even in the morning; hundreds of thousands were on their way to work, to school, to university – tired and exhausted after all those years of war.
In the blue sky, an aeroplane – no danger, just a reconnaissance plane; no air-raid siren.
Seconds later, utter horror; for the people of Hiroshima and the surrounding area, it was the end of the world. A bomb – the first atomic bomb – was dropped from the aeroplane. We know the consequences, which can be summed up in the words: ‘The living will envy the dead.’ You will be surprised to learn who first coined this phrase – not the ‘Doctors Against the Nuclear War’, but Nikita Khrushchev.
Ever since that moment, the message has been repeated all over the world, particularly on 6 and 9 August: never again Hiroshima and Nagasaki. To this day, these have remained the only two instances of nuclear weapons being used, but the fact that we have survived has, on several occasions, hung by a thread – thanks to the selfless, courageous actions of individuals (Stanislav Petrov being a notable example) – though, in truth, we might just as well say: we were simply lucky.
But let us never forget: those who suffered as a result of these bombings were the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; yet the bombings were also – and perhaps above all – intended as a signal directed against the Soviet Union, which, having suffered more than 27 million deaths and seen its country completely destroyed, had just defeated German fascism. The atomic bombings were also a geostrategic weapon, directed against the new anti-fascist world order established after 1945.
How relevant this memory is when we look at today’s dramatic geopolitical shifts and the wars, conducted in breach of international law, aimed at preserving the old, unilateral order. With ‘ ’ and its support for Ukraine, the West has crossed one red line after another. As a result, the danger of a direct military confrontation with Russia is growing. For the irresponsible strategy of ‘carrying the war into Russia’ using German technology and German money will, in all likelihood, lead to the war coming to Germany as well.
Dear friends,
A few days after the atomic bombs were dropped, Albert Einstein said:
“The time has come for humanity to renounce war. It is no longer rational to solve international problems through war.”
This remains true to this day: No to all nuclear weapons – no to all wars:
When has this been more important since 1945 than it is today: we are to become capable of waging war!
Today, being capable of waging war also – and above all – means having more and more modern, smaller nuclear weapons
In 2025, the nine states possessing nuclear weapons spent a total of 119 billion dollars on developing new ones. Just think how many schools and hospitals could be built with that money!
To talk about nuclear weapons is never to forget the madness of the arms race as a whole:
The world spends 2.9 trillion dollars on armaments, with the US alone accounting for 1.15 trillion – unimaginable figures. ! billion children go to bed hungry at night.
Merz and Pistorius are proud that, by 2026, Germany will be spending 140 billion on armaments in line with NATO criteria, mostly in the form of debt. This means that as early as 2028 or 2029, we will be spending around 50 per cent of the budget solely on armaments and debt.
It probably still exceeds our imagination what this will mean for the very existence of the welfare state, for health, education and science, for pensions and care, for infrastructure – indeed, for society as a whole.
We will no longer recognise this country after such a drastic cutback, and we will all be victims of a policy of war that, even in peacetime, will ruin our non-war state and indeed reduce us to social and human destitution.
Let us recognise the gravity of the situation and fight back – starting with us, but then joined by millions more. That is why we will also be taking part in the 15 trade union demonstrations on 26 September with our demands for peace and disarmament.
Dear fellow campaigners,
The scientists at *The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists* state it clearly: the new B61-12 nuclear weapons are coming to Büchel alongside the new F-35 bombers and are already at Lakenheath Air Base in the UK. The conversion of Büchel Air Base alone will cost 2 billion euros – I wonder who will be footing the bill? Should the security situation deteriorate further, countries such as Poland, Finland and Lithuania may also be considered as potential deployment sites.
Germany’s nuclear sharing arrangement, which clearly contravenes the NPT Treaty, will therefore continue. In the event of an emergency, German pilots and officers will drop the nuclear weapons over Moscow.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte has not ruled out the possibility of more US nuclear weapons being stationed in Europe in future.
Following the most recent meeting of NATO’s Nuclear Planning Group, the allies have committed to further strengthening NATO’s nuclear capabilities. From NATO’s perspective, and particularly that of the US, the aim is to station an additional 100 to 150 non-strategic US nuclear weapons in Europe.
Added to this is France’s new, expanded nuclear weapons policy. This forms part of the efforts – driven primarily by France – to establish a European nuclear umbrella under its leadership. Following the agreement with Norway on French nuclear sharing, further agreements – for example with Poland – are set to follow. Nuclear weapons cooperation with Germany is being vigorously pursued. The former Sponti Joschka Fischer wants – and he is not alone – a European nuclear bomb.
Nuclear weapons are unmanageable: the threat of nuclear war – triggered by accident, by technical or human error, and exacerbated by AI – hangs over us like the sword of Damocles – for as long as nuclear weapons exist.
Let us not forget: even amongst our so-called political elites, the ‘German bomb’ is a recurring topic of discussion. Speculation abounds about the unthinkable. For some time now, in think tanks and, for example, in the FAZ, building the ‘German bomb’ has ceased to be unthinkable and has instead become the subject of strategic deliberation.
Perhaps the culmination of the scenario of destruction we are currently witnessing.
This development is not going unchallenged:
Russia, too, is modernising its nuclear weapons, expanding its arsenal and deploying them in Belarus, with more to follow in the vicinity of Western Europe.
The Doomsday Clock has been moved forward to 85 seconds to midnight by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists! More and more precise nuclear weapons increase the risk of war, whilst threats and deployment strategies exacerbate this risk. All nuclear arms control treaties, with the exception of the two-tier Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, have been withdrawn from by the US or have expired. Never since 1945 has the danger of a nuclear war been greater or more real – so argue the Nobel Prize-winning scientists and experts who publish this journal.
Government policy is sold to us as deterrence. What madness, for deterrence means nothing other than a permanent, institutionalised readiness to accept the annihilation of millions of people within minutes and to accept one’s own annihilation – it amounts to naked nuclear terror
In truth, however, the German government in particular is not concerned with deterring a potential adversary (however devastating that might be); it is concerned with the first use of – initially – even just conventional medium-range weapons: to this end, Germany intends to purchase Tomahawks from the USA, and perhaps later even the Dark Eagle, or to produce comparable medium-range weapons itself, manufacture them in Europe or purchase them from Turkey, and station them on our soil under US command. These are first-strike weapons, offensive weapons directed against Russia.
So is that the aim: a third confrontation with Russia?
The destruction of Europe is being deliberately planned, because Europe will not survive a nuclear war.
Shouldn’t all those men and women who are deliberately planning this be sent to a cell in The Hague as soon as possible, to be tried for preparing wars of aggression and the planned annihilation of millions of people?
To prevent this scenario of annihilation, we are all called upon to act: now, here and today, this autumn and beyond.
That is why I call on everyone: take part in ‘Peace Autumn 2026’ – join the actions on 1 September, Anti-War Day; come to the youth concert on 2 October at the Brandenburg Gate; and demonstrate with us on 3 October in Berlin.
That is why we remain steadfast: a world without nuclear weapons is our goal – and we want to achieve it in our lifetime, Mr Obama. The German government must sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. We will not rest until this step has been taken.
Our ‘no’ to nuclear weapons is a ‘yes’ to life, a ‘yes’ to justice and international solidarity with all those who have been victims, to this day, of the use of nuclear weapons in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and of all nuclear weapons tests.
What Willi Brandt impressed upon us all in 1981 still holds true: “Peace is not everything, but without peace, everything is nothing.”
And I would add – There can only be peace without nuclear weapons!