Really? The Nazi's sent millions of Jews, Gypsys, etc to their deaths in extermination camps, in airless railway cattle trucks across the German Rail network. Insensitive doesn't come remotely close on how crass and stupid the idea of naming a train after a young woman, who was sent to her death on such a transportation as described above. Whoever came up with the disgusting idea of naming a train after this heroic young girl should be hanging their heads in shame, and looking for a new job.
I have a different viewpoint and agree with DBAG in its choice of name.
My reasoning is this: I lived in Germany for many years and found that the Government and people of West Germany, (in the time before the Wall came down and since) to their great credit, did not avoid admitting their guilt and compliance in the terrible events which occurred between 1933 and 1945. The story in the eastern
Länder under the DDR/GDR was different which explains, but doesn't excuse, recent political developments.
There
was a darker side of railway history during that period and if naming an ICE set after Anne Frank reminds everyone of it, then so be it. The horrors of that period cannot be undone. Equally we must not forget that they happened, and how over a period of years the population's mind set and expectations were shifted and their feelings de-sensitised to enable them to happen. Like the First World War already has done, the Second World War is starting to fade from living memory, two and maybe now three generations have grown up since 1945 and these events are becoming just history and the immediacy of the experiences - and the lessons to be learnt from them - are being lost.
Merkel's recent action in permitting large numbers of refugees to enter the country was brave. On the one hand she tried to lay some more of the ghosts of the 1933-45 period to rest - but it cost her votes by groups which labelled these unfortunates 'Islamists' and other such terms.
If in some small way naming a train 'Anne Frank' helps to ensure that people, politicians and governments do not treat groups of people as inanimate things - 'the French', rather than 'Jean-Yves' or 'Camille' or 'the Moslems', rather than 'Abdullah' or 'Akgül' - which is the mechanism which makes such crimes possible, then I strongly support it.
And don't think this method of making people less empathetic hasn't been tried here...
