Merkel on reconciliation as an exchange of recognition of past wrongdoing and (for)giving:

“During her lecture – at the headquarters of the Asahi Shimbun newspaper in Tokyo on Monday – Ms Merkel noted that Germany’s acceptance into the international community following World War Two was possible because Germany had dealt with its past. “There was the acceptance in Germany to call things by their name,” she said. What also helped were “generous gestures by our neighbours” in re-accepting Germany, she said. France had made “just as valuable a contribution as the Germans have” to reconciliation, she added.”