Holocaust remembrance in Germany: A changing culture

Every year in January, German officials commemorate the murder of millions of Jews and other groups perpetrated by the Nazis. Now more than ever, people are debating the “right” way to remember that horrific event.

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” This quote by Spanish-American philosopher and writer George Santayana can be found at Auschwitz concentration camp. Remembering the Holocaust has basically been a state effort in Germany for years — from bureaucrats to members of parliament. But public interest is still strong as well. Former concentration camps and other memorial sites are registering record visitor numbers.
 
And yet, Jewish organizations say they have seen an increase in anti-Semitism in Germany. “The remembrance world champion is losing the battle against today’s hatred against Jews,” says Meron Mendel, the director of the Frankfurt Anne Frank Educational Center.

That concern is backed by a recent survey from the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights in 12 European countries. It found that over the last year, Jews in Germany haven’t just faced more hostility than in previous years, but also more than in other countries.

Some 41 percent of Jews in Germany said they were victims of anti-Semitic hostility, compared to an average of 28 percent in the other surveyed countries.

What particularly worries Jews in Germany are statements made by politicians from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. Last year, its leader Alexander Gauland said that “Hitler and the Nazis are just a speck of bird shit in over a thousand years of successful German history.” And two years ago Thuringian state AfD leader Björn Höcke called for a “180 degree change” in Germany’s culture of Holocaust remembrance.