In order to justify the Russian invasion of Ukraine and to cast German leaders in a bad light, some of them are accused of family members with an alleged Nazi past on social media.

Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach or Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz can be seen next to members of the SS (Schutz-Staffel) in image combinations that are circulating in networks.

It is claimed that the National Socialists depicted are the grandfathers of the politicians.

The Federal Ministry of Health commented on the combination of images associated with Karl Lauterbach: "This is not his grandfather," says a spokesman for the ministry about the photographs that are circulating.

The supposed grandfather's name isn't Lauterbach at all, because in the picture next to the Minister of Health you can see Hartmann Lauterbacher, Chief of Staff and Deputy Reich Youth Leader of the Hitler Youth.

Federal Minister of Finance Christian Lindner is also affected by the slander.

A picture combination shows an older photo of Christian Lindner next to Gerhard Lindner.

During World War II, he served in the Wehrmacht and was on the leadership staff of an SS division.

He is passed off as the finance minister's grandfather.

A ministry spokesman said the two men were not related and that the information was false.

Even research on the Internet does not provide any indication of a supposed relationship.

"complete nonsense"

Chancellor Olaf Scholz can be seen in a picture combination with Fritz von Scholz, Lieutenant General of the Waffen-SS.

When asked whether this was Olaf Scholz's grandfather, the Federal Press Office said: "That is complete nonsense." Children.

He was born in Pilsen (today Czech Republic) and lived at the Wörthersee.

Olaf Scholz's grandparents, on the other hand, come from Hamburg and were railway officials.

The originator of the image combinations probably wanted to establish a supposed connection between German politicians and Nazi leaders by using similar-sounding names.

The aim of the widespread images is not only to discredit politicians.

It is also about supporting the arguments with which Moscow is trying to justify its attack on Ukraine, political scientist Josef Holnburger told the German Press Agency.

He is one of the managing directors of the CeMAS (Center for Monitoring, Analysis and Strategy) in Berlin, which observes radicalization tendencies and the spread of conspiracy narratives in social media.

“denazification” of Europe

The image combinations were widely distributed via Messenger Telegram, where they were viewed almost 290,000 times on a pro-Russian, German-language channel alone.

In this way, the Russian government's war propaganda is being taken up and even continued, according to the political scientist.

An alleged "denazification" must therefore "take place not only in Ukraine, but even in the whole of Europe".

Holnburger explains the fact that National Socialists were used for the image combinations as follows: a “malicious group” is to be portrayed, which has a comprehensive power structure at its disposal to achieve its goals.

The supposed NS reference denigrates the politicians.

A disseminator of the images can thus "represent their own position all the more than what is supposedly good," explains Holnburger.

"However, these connections don't make sense at any level."

Ursula von der Leyen is also accused of having relatives with a Nazi past.

In the case of the EU Commission President, there is an SS man with the same name as her grandfather: Karl Albrecht was sentenced to life imprisonment for Nazi crimes after the end of the war.

Von der Leyen's grandfather, however, is Karl (partly also: Carl) Eduard Albrecht, who was born in 1902 and comes from an influential north German family.

Albrecht studied medicine in the 1920s and worked as a doctor even during wartime.

There is no evidence of SS membership, neither for him nor for his son, Ursula von der Leyen's father Ernst Albrecht.

He was Prime Minister of Lower Saxony from 1976 to 1990.