Latest news with #AlbrechtWeinberg
Yahoo
08-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Holocaust survivor joins protests against Germany's far right
A 99-year-old Holocaust survivor demonstrated against Germany's far right on Saturday. Albrecht Weinberg was those protesting in the north-western town of Leer, one week after a motion on migration reforms passed in the lower house of the German parliament with support from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD). Weinberg recently said he would return his Order of Merit - Germany's highest honour - in response. "That this can still happen to me at almost 100 years old is unbelievable," Weinberg told dpa. Organizers estimated some 1,800 people attended the protest, with Weinberg participating in the march in his wheelchair. Weinberg survived the Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen concentration camps and several death marches. He lost most of his family to the Nazis, but he moved back to Germany from the United States in 2012 with his sister. Protests are being held across Germany on Saturday, with 200,000 marching in Munich, some 25,000 in Bremen and roughly 24,000 in Hannover according to police estimates.
The Guardian
30-01-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
‘Did they learn nothing?': Auschwitz survivor to return German honour over AfD vote role
A 99-year-old Holocaust survivor has said he will return his federal order of merit to the German president in protest over MPs passing an anti-immigration motion in parliament with the support of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland. Albrecht Weinberg, whose parents were murdered in Auschwitz, told the Guardian he was 'horrified' on learning that a proposal submitted by the conservative parties had relied on the anti-immigrant, xenophobic AfD to get it over the line. On Thursday, Weinberg said: 'You know German history? You know then how some people posing as democrats in 1933 abused the legal political process to get into power? What happened in the Bundestag on Wednesday reminded me of Germany in 1933 of how Hitler and the Nazi party managed to come to power through legitimate means.' Weinberg, who survived Auschwitz along with his brother and sister, said he had decided 'very spontaneously' to hand back his medal 'because I was very upset about the voting in the Bundestag'. On Wednesday, the conservative alliance of the Christian Democratic Union and Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) submitted a non-binding motion for a plan that aims to make it policy to turn migrants and asylum seekers away at the German border, and to enable security forces to more easily deport foreigners in Germany. Friedrich Merz, the leader of the CDU and the man likely to become the next chancellor after elections later this month, was urged not to use the AfD to get the motion through by opposition members, who said it breached Germany's longstanding taboo to keep a 'firewall' between the far right and the mainstream. His decision was even criticised on Thursday by former chancellor and CDU leader Angela Merkel who, in a rare intervention into German politics, rebuked him for reneging on a promise not to cooperate, even 'by accident', with the AfD. Weinberg, who was given Germany's highest honour for his work in schools raising awareness of the Holocaust, said he was shocked but not surprised by the motion. He said: 'The Nazis wanted to get rid of my family even though we were German citizens, and they succeeded in murdering my parents and almost killed me and my siblings. Now these politicians want to chase everyone out who they don't like. Did they learn nothing from the second world war? I really wonder whether I should be packing my suitcase again.' He said he had already been chilled by the historical parallels he saw between the AfD's tactics and those of the Nazi party after recent reports that the AfD had been distributing flyers designed to resemble plane tickets for deportation that were addressed to 'illegal immigrants'. 'It reminded me precisely of how the SA [the paramilitary wing of the Nazi party] had printed small tickets at the local printing press and rang the bell of our house handing one to my father, a one-way ticket … telling him 'don't come back',' he said. Weinberg, who grew up in the village of Fehndorf Rhauderfehn in East Frisia, northern Germany and will turn 100 in March, was forced into Nazi slave labour in 1939. He and his sister, Friedel, were sent to Auschwitz in April 1943 at the same time as, but separate from, their older brother, Dieter. Weinberg said he had been shocked to hear that even his own local MP, 'a dear friend' from the CDU, had voted in favour of the motion. He said: 'We're friends. I called her because I was so disturbed – she said she'll come and see me in a week or two to explain why. What can you do?' Photographer Luigi Toscano from Mannheim, a friend of Weinberg's whose project 'Lest We Forget' documented the stories of 400 survivors of the Holocaust, also said he was returning his order of merit. He was prepared to take Weinberg with him and hand it back to President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Berlin personally, he said. 'Either the president will receive us or we'll throw the medals into his letter box,' he told broadcaster ARD. Wednesday's vote came two days after a memorial at Auschwitz on the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camp in 1945. Its controversy led to criticism from all sides of the mainstream political spectrum. In a statement on her website, Merkel said she stood by her longstanding conviction that there should never be any association between the mainstream parties and the far-right populists. She said: 'I think it is wrong to no longer feel bound to this proposal, thereby allowing a majority with the votes of the AfD in a vote in the German Bundestag for the first time on 29 January 2025.' Eva Umlauf, 82, who survived Auschwitz and in 2015 told The Guardian the story of how she was deported there with her mother in 1944, also compared the vote to the situation in 1930s Germany. In a letter to the Süddeutsche Zeitung, she wrote: 'We all know how German politicians once thought they could cooperate with Hitler and the Nazi party. Keep them in check. And how in just a few years, our democracy became a dictatorship. Peace became war.'
Yahoo
30-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
German Holocaust survivor to return national award after AfD vote
A 99-year-old German Holocaust survivor said on Thursday he wants to return his Order of Merit - Germany's highest honour - after a controversial motion demanding reforms to migration policy passed in parliament due to far-right votes. Albrecht Weinberg, who survived the Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen concentration camps, said the award had been a great honour but he was outraged by the vote. "It has become too heavy to bear when you have news like this. Terrible," Weinberg told dpa. The centre-right CDU/CSU bloc relied on support from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) to push through the non-binding measure on Wednesday, the first time that the party has been involved in a majority vote in the Bundestag, Germany's lower house of parliament. Weinberg lost most of his family to the Nazis and survived several death marches. Along with his sister, Weinberg moved back to Germany from the United States in 2012 and has since regularly spoken with German schoolchildren about his experiences. "I've been going to schools for the last 10 years and talking to pupils about what could and would happen if they were to take power again," said Weinberg, referring to the far right. "They have no idea what it was like in 1945 Germany." The Mannheim photographer Luigi Toscano, a friend of Weinberg who has devoted his work to commemorating victims of the Nazis, said he also wants to return his Order of Merit. The pair plan to give the awards back to German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier as soon as possible.
Yahoo
30-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Holocaust survivor to return German award over far-right role in parliamentary vote
BERLIN (Reuters) - A 99-year-old Holocaust survivor said on Thursday he would return his federal order of merit award to the German state in protest over a parliamentary vote in which support from the far-right was used for the first time to secure a majority. Germany's main opposition conservatives, who are tipped to win a national election on Feb. 23, pushed through parliament on Wednesday a motion calling for a drastic crackdown on migration with the help of votes from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which is polling in second place. Though the motion is non-binding, the AfD's role in passing it was symbolically important. Critics have accused the conservatives of breaking a taboo among mainstream parties against working with the AfD. See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. Albrecht Weinberg told Reuters he would return his decoration as a protest against the vote. Born to a Jewish family in 1925, Weinberg spent time during World War Two in the Nazi death camps at Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen. He was freed on April 15, 1945, according to the Bergen-Belsen memorial website. He emigrated to the United States after the war but returned to Germany 10 years ago and now lives in the northwest of the country. Some six million Jews were killed in the Holocaust. Luigi Toscano, a photographer whose project 'Lest We Forget' shares the stories of survivors of the Holocaust, said he was also returning his order of merit to the German state in protest over Wednesday's vote. "Yesterday, the CDU (conservatives) betrayed our democratic values with a resolution and the support of a party that is partly designated as right-wing extremist," Toscano wrote in an Instagram post in which he also mentioned Weinberg's decision. The CDU did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the matter. The AfD, which is under state surveillance on suspicion of being right-wing extremist, has come under fire in the past for criticising Germany's culture of remembrance around the Holocaust. It denies having any Nazi links. Wednesday's vote occurred hours after German lawmakers held a special sitting in the Bundestag lower house of parliament to commemorate 80 years since the liberation of the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz in southern Poland on Jan. 27, 1945.
Reuters
30-01-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Holocaust survivor to return German award over far-right role in parliamentary vote
BERLIN, Jan 30 (Reuters) - A 99-year-old Holocaust survivor said on Thursday he would return his federal order of merit award to the German state in protest over a parliamentary vote in which support from the far-right was used for the first time to secure a majority. Germany's main opposition conservatives, who are tipped to win a national election on Feb. 23, pushed through parliament on Wednesday a motion calling for a drastic crackdown on migration with the help of votes from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which is polling in second place. Though the motion is non-binding, the AfD's role in passing it was symbolically important. Critics have accused the conservatives of breaking a taboo among mainstream parties against working with the AfD. Albrecht Weinberg told Reuters he would return his decoration as a protest against the vote. Born to a Jewish family in 1925, Weinberg spent time during World War Two in the Nazi death camps at Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen. He was freed on April 15, 1945, according to the Bergen-Belsen memorial website. He emigrated to the United States after the war but returned to Germany 10 years ago and now lives in the northwest of the country. Some six million Jews were killed in the Holocaust. Luigi Toscano, a photographer whose project 'Lest We Forget' shares the stories of survivors of the Holocaust, said he was also returning his order of merit to the German state in protest over Wednesday's vote. "Yesterday, the CDU (conservatives) betrayed our democratic values with a resolution and the support of a party that is partly designated as right-wing extremist," Toscano wrote in an Instagram post in which he also mentioned Weinberg's decision. The CDU did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the matter. The AfD, which is under state surveillance on suspicion of being right-wing extremist, has come under fire in the past for criticising Germany's culture of remembrance around the Holocaust. It denies having any Nazi links. Wednesday's vote occurred hours after German lawmakers held a special sitting in the Bundestag lower house of parliament to commemorate 80 years since the liberation of the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz in southern Poland on Jan. 27, 1945.
