CDU and SPD Politicians Accused of Profanation After Posing with Holocaust Victims' Suitcases

A group of parliamentarians from the German states of Lower Saxony and Bremen committed a serious violation of historical sensitivity and political etiquette by organizing a professional photoshoot in the state parliament building in Hanover with authentic suitcases of Holocaust victims. The event, which quickly turned into a nationwide scandal, was initiated by CDU MP Philipp Raulfs, who, according to media reports, wanted to illustrate the topic of "parliamentary work" in this unusual way. SPD politicians, including the local party chair, also joined the session. The photographs published on social media showed smiling politicians in casual poses, often holding or pointing at the historic trunks, which was perceived as caricatured and deeply inappropriate. Since the end of World War II and the fall of the Nazi regime, Germany has adopted a particular culture of memory (German: Erinnerungskultur), based on acknowledging responsibility for the crimes of the Holocaust, commemorating the victims, and continuous public education. This "civilizational rupture," as philosopher Theodor Adorno called it, constitutes a central point of post-war German identity and is protected by both the state and civil society. Public gestures by politicians in this context are therefore subject to particularly harsh scrutiny. The historical suitcases, a key element of the scandal, were borrowed from the temporary exhibition titled "WARNING! The History and Present of Antisemitism," displayed in the state parliament lobby. The exhibition, organized by the Lower Saxony State Museum in cooperation with the Lower Saxony Memorials Foundation, is educational and serves to confront history and contemporary forms of prejudice. As the museum emphasized in response to the incident, each of these items tells the individual story of a person condemned to deportation and extermination, and their presence in the parliament was meant to serve as a serious memento, not as a prop for an image campaign. The reaction to the publication of the photos was immediate and unequivocally negative. Within hours, the posts were labeled a scandal, and the politicians were inundated with criticism for trivializing the victims' suffering and profaning memory. Faced with growing outrage, the involved MPs deleted the controversial content from their profiles. The CDU parliamentary group leader in the Lower Saxony state parliament, Sebastian Lechner, issued a statement firmly distancing himself from his party colleagues' actions, emphasizing that using such items for self-promotion is "unacceptable." Similarly, the SPD politicians involved in the incident expressed deep regret and acknowledged their mistake. Philipp Raulfs, the initiator of the session, apologized, stating that the photos were "deeply inappropriate" and that he would not have done it with full awareness of the context. The Federal Government Commissioner for Jewish Life in Germany and the Fight against Antisemitism has also taken an interest in the matter, indicating the importance central authorities attach to such violations.

Perspektywy mediów: The left-liberal media narrative emphasizes the deep hypocrisy and lack of sensitivity of establishment politicians (CDU/SPD), who are theoretically the guardians of German memory culture but in practice use its symbols for crude self-promotion. Criticism focuses on a systemic deficit of education and authenticity in classical politics. Conservative and right-wing commentaries use the incident as proof of the decline of the political class and the loss of gravitas in state institutions. They argue that the event undermines the credibility of traditional parties in the fight against real antisemitism and is a manifestation of the decadence of elites who have lost touch with historical seriousness.