Germany marked 80 years since the liberation of the Buchenwald concentration camp on Sunday with a solemn ceremony attended by survivors, politicians, and descendants.
Former President Christian Wulff used the event to warn against rising right-wing extremism, drawing parallels to the political climate before World War II. “Evil must never be allowed to prevail again,” he said, while condemning the far-right AfD party for fostering hostility and historical revisionism.
Fewer than a dozen survivors attended this year’s event, compared to 300 in 2005. Among them was 100-year-old Albrecht Weinberg, who recently returned his federal honour in protest of a controversial immigration law backed by the AfD.
Controversy also erupted after Israeli officials pressured organisers to cancel a speech by German-Israeli philosopher Omri Boehm, who has criticised Israel’s government. Organisers postponed his address to avoid distressing survivors.
About 56,000 people were killed at Buchenwald and 20,000 at its annex, Mittelbau-Dora. As eyewitnesses dwindle, concerns grow over Holocaust remembrance amid Europe’s far-right surge.
