The situation in the morning - A Holocaust survivor worried

Money from Moscow

Donald Trump and the AfD have something in common. Of course, in reality they have a frightening amount in common, from resentment to closeness to Russia. But this is about a very special thing in common: their own scandals cannot – so far – affect both Trump and the AfD, or at least hardly anything. It's like they're covered in some kind of anti-morality Teflon.

With Trump, at the beginning, during his first presidential campaign, after every revelation, every gaffe, every misstep, people still thought: That's it. That must have been it. People won't let him get away with that anymore. But let them say, Trump won the election in 2016.

It is similar with the AfD; no donations scandal, no racist or anti-Semitic attacks have slowed its rise. Now the next scandal is looming.

Yesterday it was announced that several European intelligence services led by the Czech Republic had uncovered one of Russia's largest influence operations known to date. The focus is on the media company "Voice of Europe", which, behind the facade of a reputable news portal, mainly reports on topics that are convenient for the Kremlin, on demonstrations against Western governments or disputes over the costs of migration. The site also contains long interviews, especially with right-wing politicians. AfD politicians also have their say, for example Maximilian Krah and Petr Bystron, who are number 1 and 2 on the AfD list for the European elections.

In addition to classic disinformation and propaganda, the company apparently had another purpose. Several hundred thousand euros are said to have flowed to politicians in several European countries, including the AfD. When asked by SPIEGEL, Maximilian Krah denied that he himself had received money from “Voice of Europe”. Petr Bystron has so far left a request unanswered.

My colleague Martin Knobbe and several colleagues researched this topic. He writes to me: »The fact that the AfD maintains a close proximity to Russia and regularly expresses it is nothing new. We at SPIEGEL have reported on this often enough. The fact that party representatives may have received large amounts of money directly from Putin's environment, as the investigations by the Czech intelligence service and five European partners suggest, would be a new dimension - and would have consequences for the politicians concerned.

It should. Actually.

But, Martin writes to me: "The fatal thing about such revelations is that many AfD voters probably don't find anything objectionable about them."

• The whole story here: European politicians are said to have received hundreds of thousands of euros from Russia 

Creating peace without weapons – seriously?

For a while, Easter marches were something like the bell-bottoms or tie-dye shirts of demonstrations: relics from another, bygone time. But everything will come back, and after the Easter marches for many years only attracted the very convinced, the organizers are expecting lively participation again this year. Today, on Maundy Thursday, it starts, for example in Freiburg.

"This year, the Easter marches continue to be influenced by Russia's ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine, which violates international law, as well as the Gaza war," says the Peace Cooperative Network's website. "At many Easter marches there will be loud calls for an end to hostilities and peace negotiations." And: "The traditional demands of the peace movement for disarmament and the abolition of nuclear weapons will also be a topic."

But what does it mean to end hostilities when you're dealing with Vladimir Putin? And would disarmament really bring peace at a time like this? Or perhaps the opposite, more war and more suffering because Putin would feel emboldened by disarmament to attack the next country, for example in the Baltics? So could armament at this time possibly be a contribution to peace?

It is honorable to march for peace. You should just check every now and then whether your own worldview still matches reality.

More background here: How the Ukraine War splinters Germany's peace scene 

She loves people, despite everything

My colleague Markus Feldenkirchen has seen a lot as a journalist, which is why the sentence he said to me yesterday means something: "Since I've been doing interviews, nothing has moved me as much as the one with Margot Friedländer."

Markus moderates the SPIEGEL top-level discussion, this time his guest was the 102-year-old Friedländer, who survived the Holocaust. Among other things, she brought to the studio the yellow star with the inscription “Jew” that she once had to wear on the streets of Berlin before her deportation to the Theresienstadt concentration camp.

You should definitely watch the conversation. Perhaps it has never been more important than now to listen to people like Margot Friedländer. As long as possible.

»The hatred that was incited back then has now become loud again. They are people who don’t recognize people as people,” says Friedländer about contemporary Germany. And: "That's how it started back then." When asked whether she was worried about the success of the AfD, she said: "Of course."

I find one part of this conversation particularly impressive. It's about the question of how Margot Friedländer managed not to become bitter, not to be hateful, but to look at the world positively, despite everything that was done to her.

And Friedländer says: “Because I love people. For me, people are people. I think there is something good in every person.«

What a size.

• The whole conversation here: "It's in your hands that this never happens again"

Read the current SPIEGEL editorial here

• Putin is caught in his own delusion:

  Russia denies that the "Islamic State" is behind the terrorist attack in Moscow. The autocrat becomes a victim of his worldview. 

Click here for the current daily quiz

Today's starting question: Which German frigate was sent to the Red Sea in February 2024 to protect merchant ships from Houthi attacks?

Winners of the day…

... are Lufthansa's passengers, especially those who want to travel over Easter. There was a threat of an indefinite strike by ground staff until yesterday evening, when Lufthansa and the Ver.di union announced that they had agreed on the basic principles of a collective agreement. Although you may not necessarily have to travel over the holidays this year. At least here, in Berlin, spring is finally coming through.

• Collective bargaining solution for Lufthansa ground staff – no strikes over Easter

The latest reports from the night

• “This is beyond my imagination”:

  Surveys see the Sahra Wagenknecht alliance in double figures in Saxony, Thuringia and Brandenburg. Would an alliance after the elections be conceivable for the SPD? Olaf Scholz waves away.

• Pediatricians are calling for the abolition of children's sick leave:

  Anyone who wants to care for a sick child at home must first drag them to a practice and obtain a certificate. Pediatricians are now sounding the alarm: They are not “prosecution authorities” for employers.

• "Don't let me be denigrated as an Islamist":

  His Instagram post with a raised index finger caused a lot of fuss - now footballer Antonio Rüdiger is clear again: He has nothing to do with extremism and Islamism.

I would particularly like to recommend this story to you today:

The Corona raid:

The state supported entrepreneurs with billions of euros during the pandemic. But he also fell for brazen scammers. Our report team uses five cases to describe how the authorities chase after lost money.

I wish you a good start to the day.

Yours Christoph Hickmann, head of the SPIEGEL capital office