Brandt was repeatedly interviewed about the genuflection and about his motives . He later noted that : Egon Bahr , an eyewitness and Brandt 's friend and political ally of many years , recalled in a 2010 interview : " The only thing he said was , in that moment , as he stood looking at the ribbon , he thought : Just laying the wreath is not enough . " During a visit to the former Seodaemun Prison in Seoul on August 2015 , former Japanese prime minister Yukio Hatoyama knelt in front of a memorial stone as an expression of apology for Japanese war crimes in World War II
Japanese war crimes
Japanese war crimes
Kniefall von Warschau