Blair warns Germany against World War II ‘victim culture’

British PM Tony Blair warned Germans not to develop a “victim culture” over their suffering in World War II, saying Germany was re...

British PM Tony Blair warned Germans not to develop a “victim culture” over their suffering in World War II, saying Germany was responsible for the war.

In an interview with the German daily Bild on Monday, Blair said it was understandable many Germans associated it with hunger, suffering and the loss of their homes. ‘‘But that should not mean cultivating a victim culture. Germany was responsible for the outbreak of the Second World War,’’ he said.

The comments were published a day after German President Horst Koehler spoke of the suffering of Germans during the war. For decades, the issue was little mentioned in the media, but a spate of books, TV programmes and articles have focused on subjects such as Germany’s bombed-out cities and mass rapes by Soviet soldiers. The focus on German suffering has led critics to warn that it risks downplaying Nazi Germany’s responsibility for starting the war.

But Blair said modern Germany had made a leading contribution to the reconstruction of a peaceful Europe. ‘‘There may still be scars but the wounds have healed,’’ he said.