Merkel issues stark reminder 80 years after the rise of Hitler

Chancellor Angela Merkel said Adolf Hitler’s rise to power 80 years ago should go on reminding Germans that democracy and freedom cannot be taken for granted.

Merkel was speaking at the inauguration of an exhibition in Berlin to commemorate eight decades since Hitler became chancellor on Jan 30, 1933 — an anniversary which has aroused much interest in Germany.

“Human rights don’t assert themselves. Freedom doesn’t preserve itself all alone and democracy doesn’t succeed by itself,” Merkel said.