Steinmeier calls for decisive fight against antisemitism at Buchenwald on 88th pogrom anniversary

Commemoration at Buchenwald

On Monday, 9 November, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier spoke at a commemoration in the Buchenwald memorial near Weimar marking the 88th anniversary of the November 1938 pogroms. He said he was dismayed by the many antisemitic incidents in Germany and that democratic society, and every individual within it, was called upon to act. Reports say he called it a duty to stand alongside people who are demeaned, excluded, insulted or attacked because they are Jewish.

“We must confront hatred of Jews, regardless of whether it comes from the political fringes on the right and left, from the middle of society or from Islamism.”

Warnings and reasons for hope

Steinmeier said it was a great gift that Jewish life in Germany had blossomed again, but that it shamed him deeply that Jewish people were once more insulted, threatened and physically attacked on German streets and squares. He said the number of antisemitic crimes had risen to a peak since the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, and that synagogues now had to be protected more. This made him sad and angry. He nonetheless said there was reason to hope, because the constitutional state was firm and did not waver, while also calling for people to open their eyes and sharpen their senses.

Memorial director Jens-Christian Wagner said antisemitism had again become a widespread phenomenon in Germany. He named the AfD as one source, but said it could not be blamed only on the old and new right, since Islamist and left-authoritarian groups also spread it, often under the cover of anti-Zionism and Palestine solidarity. Many people attended, among them many young people and Thuringia's Minister-President Mario Voigt (CDU).

Meeting with former GDR civil rights activists

Before the memorial event, Steinmeier met former GDR civil rights activists at the Goethe House in Weimar. Participants included Thuringia's former minister-president Christine Lieberknecht, the former mayor of Weimar Friedrich Folger and Ulrike Lorenz, president of the Klassik Stiftung. Steinmeier said that 9 November is sometimes described as a day of fate for Germans, but that he did not like the term.

“I do not much like the term, because history is not fate.”

He described the date as a day of "the bright and the dark" in German history. During his visit he linked it to three events: the proclamation of the republic, the Pogromnacht and the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Historical background

In the night of 9 to 10 November 1938, the Nazis set synagogues on fire across Germany, mistreated Jewish women and men, and ravaged their homes and shops. Steinmeier recalled that these acts took place in full public view and described them as a step on the path toward the civilizational rupture of the Shoah. He said the regime had relied on the active or silent support of millions of Germans.