Auschwitz survivor Albrecht Weinberg: ‘Everything can go back to the way it was in the 1930s’

Albrecht Weinberg was 18 years old when the Nazis deported him to Auschwitz in 1943. He survived three concentration camps and was finally liberated at the Bergen-Belsen camp. His parents and almost all of his family were murdered in the Holocaust. In 2012, he returned with his sister from the United States to Leer, a small town in northern Germany, and since then he has dedicated himself to educating German students about what happened in the past, which earned him the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 2017. Now, about to turn 100, he admits to being shocked by the decision of the Christian Democrat leader, Friedrich Merz, to accept the support of the extreme right in order to try to push through a package of measures against immigration. In a telephone conversation with EL PAÍS from his home, he warns of the danger of giving space to the far right.

Question: How did you feel when you heard about the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) voting in favor of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) in the German parliament last week?

Answer. I was born in Germany. And I had a hard time dealing with what the Nazis did to us Jews. I can’t forget the past. My family was murdered. How can I forget that? And now the politicians have joined the right-wingers, as they are called, the Nazis and the right-wing extremists. It’s terrible. I lived through that time, my whole family was murdered for politics or for religion, and it’s incredible that we’re back to this. It’s only been a little over 10 years since I came back to Germany and I talk to students, to schoolchildren, about what could happen if they’re not careful when they turn 18 and can vote. What would become of them? What could happen? If you give those people an inch they take a mile, and everything could go back to the way it was in the 1930s.

Q. And what did you think when the anti-immigration bill was finally rejected last Friday despite the support of the AfD?

A. I thought there was still hope, yes. I mean, it’s not like they’re going to put me in jail, but it’s a democracy on the verge of collapse. And in my free will I asked myself if I wanted to keep the Order of Merit. I received it in 2017 because I talk to young people in schools. But now I think I couldn’t wear it on my jacket after they behaved like that and cooperated.

Q. After you announced that you wanted to return the Order of Merit, you were contacted by the office of President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Do you know when you will meet?

A. I don’t know how it works. I’ve never wanted to return it before. The president is out of the country on a business trip and I’m expecting a call. He wanted to let me know that he would like to talk to me personally, although I don’t know officially when the conversation will take place. Also, I have to take into account that I’m at an age where I’m not as fit as I used to be. I couldn’t go to Berlin, or wouldn’t want to go.

Q. And do you think that after that conversation you will still want to return it?

A. Yes, I have decided. I will return the Order of Merit, because the politicians have joined forces with right-wing extremists. And then it will be like with the National Socialists and Hitler. Not at the moment, but if they get their foot in the door, then they can bring their whole body in later.

Q. Thousands of people took to the streets last week to protest against what happened in the Bundestag. How did you feel during these demonstrations?

A. I continue to go out and talk to students and adults. There are many protests in Germany at the moment against everything that has happened. I will now see what President Steinmeier has to say.

Q. According to polls, the AfD is coming in second in terms of voting intentions for the elections on 23 February. Why do you think so many people support them?

A. I haven’t followed it that closely, because I’m not interested in political issues. But when these things come to light, like what happened in the Bundestag, then you have to speak out if you don’t agree. Also, I think that if there were elections in Germany today, people would wake up and would not vote for right-wing extremists as the polls say. Of course I wouldn’t vote for them. I know what Germany was like in 1945, I know what it’s like when a dictator takes the helm. It’s a terrible thing. Lots of hunger and murder, and so on. And the world today is full of war, hardship, and poverty. These people don’t even have a piece of bread or a glass of water to drink. But war material is still being manufactured.

Q. You survived the concentration camps of Auschwitz, Mittelbau-Dora, and Bergen-Belsen. You then emigrated to the United States with your sister in 1947 and returned in 2012. What was it like for you to return to Germany?

A. I came back because of an illness. I had friends in Germany who were financially well off and they told me to come back, that they would help us. And that’s what we did. But my sister died three months later.

Q. And what did you feel when you returned to Germany?

A. I saw that the country had a completely different mentality and that it was a completely different world. Germany is no longer just German. All kinds of different countries, all kinds of people and all kinds of languages are represented here again. It is a democracy. But even though the fanatical Nazis are no longer in this world, there is still a lot of anti-Semitism and hatred.

Q. You speak at schools and share your memories so that something like the Holocaust doesn’t happen again. What do students think?

A. They are wonderful. They cannot understand for themselves what their grandparents did in the 1930s.

Q. But have you seen a change in German society in recent years?

A. Yes, and that’s why I tell students, 18-year-olds, that they must not keep quiet, that they must not be timid and that they must do the right thing. Otherwise, their future will not be particularly good.

Q. Do you get old memories when you see how some politicians talk about refugees?

A. Yes, but I am very demanding when it comes to politics, my experience is very special. I am not interested in specific politicians.

Q. And how did you feel the first time you heard the word “remigration,” a concept that the AfD has now officially included in its election program, to refer to large-scale repatriation?

A. That that was it. That’s what the right-wing extremists want. And of course I’m concerned, but what can I do as an individual? Nothing. Just give my opinion.

Q. Do you feel threatened in Germany?

A. Yes, there is still a certain percentage that is very hostile.

Q. In this context, how do you see the future in Germany?

A. I’m going to be 100 in three weeks. I don’t think about that stuff anymore.

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