During a visit to the Auschwitz Memorial Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee, commented on the current situation of the far-right movement Der III. Weg (The Third Way) in Erfurt and the outrageous release without charge of twelve suspects following a brutal attack against three men from Guinea in front of a building known to the police as a venue for neo-Nazis. Mr Heubner said:

“Holocaust survivors are following the acts of violence and hate attacks of extreme right-wing groups in Germany and the reactions of state bodies with increasing concern. Holocaust survivors find it utterly inacceptable that the hard-line neo-Nazi movement Der III. Weg (The Third Way) with a potential for violence is again being given the leeway to destabilize democracy, denigrate the state and make it look incapable of action.

Following a brutal attack on three men from Guinea, in which one victim was almost beaten to death, the twelve arrested men were detained but allowed to walk free. This procedure is scandalous and for Holocaust survivors utterly inacceptable. In view of their own horrific experiences of German history, the survivors view these events as a sign of sheer incompetence on the part of a supposedly robust democratic state that still hasn’t learned from the murder of Walter Lübcke and the deadly shooting attacks in Halle and Hanau.

Proceedings must be started to urge the Thuringian authorities to ban Der III. Weg. Similarly, the use of properties by neo-Nazis also needs to be investigated in legal terms, and the question needs to be addressed whether the Chief Federal Prosecutor should be called on to react to this concrete threat to our state and its citizens.

The Holocaust survivors are counting on and placing their hopes in a robust German democracy which forms a key focus in combatting extreme right-wing hatred in Europe.”