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21.11.2020

“You aren’t the majority! We’re standing up for democracy and against hatred!”

 
 
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It is with growing concern that Holocaust survivors are following the increasingly aggressive and potentially violent attitude at demonstrations by Covid-19 deniers in Leipzig and other places in the country. Increasing sections of demonstrators are clearly allowing themselves to be led by conspiracy lies that are anti-Semitic in essence and incite hatred towards Jews and democratic society.

We know from the authoritarianism study recently published by Leipzig University, that the belief in these conspiracy lies now reaches into the centre of society. The situation is aggravated by the perfidious strategy of the AfD that is declaring itself as the leadership of the demonstrators and inciting them to despise and attack the institutions of democracy. We have already witnessed a new form of this approach on 18 November with verbal and physical aggression inside the German Bundestag.



In Berlin Christoph Heubner, the Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee said:



“Holocaust survivors are seeing warning signals in this contempt and propensity to violence against democracy, its institutions and its representatives. These signals are reminding them of their own painful experiences in their youth. They are now seriously counting on the democratic majority in this society to make themselves clearly heard, and to show that they are the majority. Local residents along the demonstration routes should use creative means –whistles, saucepan lids and musical instruments – and send a clear message to the demonstrators from their windows and balconies: You aren’t the majority! We’re standing up for democracy and against hatred!”