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German Holocaust remembrance under fire from German far right

AFP
AFP - news@thelocal.de
German Holocaust remembrance under fire from German far right
Polish historian and Holocaust survivor Marian Turski (R) delivers a speech in front of the main gate of the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp during commemorations on the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the German Nazi concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / POOL / AFP)

As the world remembers Auschwitz, the German far right has pushed back against the country's tradition of Holocaust remembrance, now with backing from US tech billionaire Elon Musk.

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"I think there's too much of a focus on past guilt and we need to move beyond that," the ally of US President Donald Trump told an Alternative for Germany (AfD) rally in video discussion at the weekend.

"Children should not be guilty for the sins of their great grandparents," he told supporters of the AfD, an anti-immigration party he has strongly supported ahead of February 23rd elections.

Musk's comments flew in the face of those made by Chancellor Olaf Scholz to mark 80 years since the liberation of the extermination camp in what was Nazi-occupied Poland and on the "civilisational rupture" of the Holocaust.

"Every single person in our country bears responsibility, regardless of their own family history, regardless of the religion or birthplace of their parents or grandparents," Scholz said in a speech.

READ ALSO: Inside Germany: Frankfurt's mammoth citizenship wait times and remembering Auschwitz

Musk's comments were all the more divisive as they came ahead of Monday's 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, where more than one million Jewish people and over 100,000 others died between 1940 and 1945.

US tech billionaire and businessman Elon Musk  on a large screen as Alice Weidel, co-leader of Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, addresses an election campaign rally in Halle, eastern Germany on January 25, 2025.

US tech billionaire and businessman Elon Musk on a large screen as Alice Weidel, co-leader of Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, addresses an election campaign rally in Halle, eastern Germany on January 25, 2025. (Photo by AFP)

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, whose country is hosting commemorations, was quick to criticise slogans made at Saturday's rally, although he did not mention Musk by name.

"The words we heard from the main actors of the AfD rally about 'Great Germany' and 'the need to forget German guilt for Nazi crimes' sounded all too familiar and ominous," the Polish leader wrote on X.

"Especially only hours before the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz".

Scholz, who went to Poland for the anniversary events, responded to Tusk's message: "I couldn't agree more, dear Donald."

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'Historical amnesia'

Remembrance of the Nazis' genocide of Jews and other atrocities has for decades been a central feature of German politics and society as the country seeks to atone for its past.

Schoolchildren are taught about the Holocaust and German political leaders frequently declare "never again".

But the AfD, now polling in second place on around 20 percent, has long courted controversy by calling for Germany to stop focusing on atoning for its World War II crimes, including the genocide of six million European Jews.

One of its former leaders, Alexander Gauland, once notoriously described the Nazi era as just "a speck of bird poo" in German history.

Last year Björn Höcke, one of the AfD's most radical leaders, was convicted and fined twice for using a banned Nazi slogan, "Alles für Deutschland" (Everything for Germany).

Despite its popularity, the AfD is unlikely to enter government after the February 23rd polls, as all mainstream parties have ruled out working with it.

READ ALSO: How would a strong AfD election result impact foreigners in Germany?

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And many Germans remain fiercely opposed to the party. Tens of thousands rallied in cities across the country on Saturday against the far right.

Nevertheless the German political establishment is increasingly worried that the far right's views are gaining traction.

"Our culture of remembrance is facing fundamental challenges," Culture Minister Claudia Roth said Monday.

"Disinformation, conspiracy theories and hate speech can now spread almost without limit in important social media," she said.

"This is all the more worrying given that there is currently a rapidly advancing relativisation and deliberately pursued historical amnesia in the use of terms and gestures that are historically associated with" the Nazi era, she said.

The Central Council of Jews in Germany is worried that there are fewer witnesses left with a connection to the Nazi era, and called for initiatives to increase visits to sites of "Nazi crimes".

Last week the group's president Josef Schuster criticised the "propaganda raging" against remembrance culture.

"The parliamentary arm of this propaganda, the AfD, already has a seat in regional parliaments and the Bundestag," he lamented.

READ ALSO: Why there's no way of stopping the rise of far-right AfD in Germany

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