Holocaust commemoration postponed due to farmers' protests: anti-Semitism commissioner criticizes the state parliament in Magdeburg

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Anti-Semitism Commissioner Klein: “Unacceptable”

Photo: Sean Gallup / Getty Images

After the cancellation of a planned central event to mark the day of remembrance of the victims of National Socialism this Saturday in Saxony-Anhalt, criticism comes from the Federal Government's Anti-Semitism Commissioner, Felix Klein. "In times when the number of anti-Semitic attacks in Germany has reached a shamefully high level since Hamas' terrorist attack on Israel on October 7th, this reminder and warning is more urgent than ever," Klein told SPIEGEL. The decision in Magdeburg was “unacceptable”.

The background to the cancellation of the originally planned memorial hour in the state parliament is the farmers' protests that have been registered for Saturday on Magdeburg Cathedral Square in front of the parliament building. The decision was made by State Parliament President Gunnar Schellenberger: 2,500 participants and around 300 tractors are expected at the farmers' protests. The CDU politician explained that it would not be possible to ensure appropriate commemoration, unhindered arrival and departure or a complete guarantee of the safety of the participants.

As an alternative, there will now be a wreath-laying ceremony at a monument in Magdeburg. The memorial event should be rescheduled. “I think we have now found an appropriate, good solution,” said Schellenberger.

The Anti-Semitism Commissioner Klein, on the other hand, says: "I would like to appeal to those responsible, the President of the State Parliament and the President of the Farmers' Association, to find a solution that provides appropriate space for the memory of the victims of the Holocaust." He is convinced that the farmers will do so would accept space.

“You can expect a state government to ensure two events on the same day in one city,” said the federal chairwoman of the Left, Janine Wissler, to SPIEGEL. "Simply canceling the commemoration is a slap in the face to the survivors and relatives of the victims." The state government must ensure that both events can take place and the farmers' association should make it clear that no one who wants to go to the memorial event will be restricted or prevented from participating in the protests.

In the state parliament there is sharp criticism of the approach from the Greens and the Left. According to SPIEGEL information, Prime Minister Reiner Haseloff is also unhappy about the cancellation. He had planned to take part in the memorial event in the state parliament and then go to the farmers' protests, it is said.

After the cancellation, he decided to take part in a memorial event in his hometown of Wittenberg on Saturday. »The memory must be preserved and passed on to the next generations. We owe this not only to the victims, but also to ourselves," said the Prime Minister.

On January 27, 1945, Red Army soldiers liberated the survivors of the German Auschwitz concentration and extermination camp in occupied Poland. The Nazis murdered more than a million people there. Since 1996, the date has been celebrated in Germany as Holocaust Remembrance Day.

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