Holocaust survivors are very disconcerted and worried by the news from Germany. In view of the spiritless attitudes in politics and society, they are asking themselves whether the significantly increasing potential for right-wing hatred and violence has been played down and underestimated for far too long.

Commenting during a stay at the Auschwitz Memorial, Christoph Heubner, the Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee said:

"All of the state institutions, ranging from the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution to the police, are now under the obligation to publish their internal and external findings about right-wing extremist groups which have long since abandoned the foundations of democracy in favour of violent fantasies to destroy democracy and its representatives.

The Holocaust survivors have been experiencing this violence for a long time, not only via brutalization on the Internet in Europe which is often accompanied by ant-Semitic abuses, threats and acts of violence. Jewish people in Europe have long since become a focus for this hatred which is increasingly being espoused by politicians, such as Walter Lübcke.

We are currently experiencing a change in the nature of this hatred and the threat of right-wing extremism in Germany, yet Auschwitz survivors are still counting on the democratic reliability and stability of this country. All of the democratic forces now need to ensure that the AfD is not released from its responsibility for the mounting aggression in Germany. At the same time, the survivors now expect all German citizens to take a determined stand for democracy, as announced by the Minister of the Interior – something that has been lacking for far too long."