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Photo: pen.
Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora memorials
SPIEGEL:
Mr. Wagner, you had an AfD election poster removed from the site of the concentration camp memorial.
How did that happen?
Wagner:
The day before yesterday an employee noticed the poster who informed us in the memorial management about it.
Then, after a brief consultation, we decided to remove the poster - and documented this with photos.
SPIEGEL:
Do you know how exactly the poster got there?
Wagner:
The AfD Weimar apparently posted that there on Monday evening.
In any case, the AfD city council group posted a photo on their Facebook page of how they hang up the poster in the memorial.
SPIEGEL:
What exactly bothered you about that?
Wagner: In
general, election advertising has no place in the memorial.
And to make matters worse, it is about the AfD Thuringia.
It has repeatedly proven in the past that it is hostile to the culture of remembrance and thus also to the memorial work in Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora - just think of the now notorious demand by AfD country chief Björn Höcke for a "180 degree change in the politics of memory."
Logically, we have also banned the AfD from participating in commemorative events here.
SPIEGEL:
The poster we are talking about now has the AfD slogan "Courage to be truthful".
Did that bother you too?
Wagner:
Of course.
This phrase denounces the alleged
cancel culture
in Germany - i.e. the idea that one can allegedly no longer be able to express one's opinion freely.
This also includes the fact that new right-wing circles regularly complain that one cannot go public with historical revisionist theses.
Such a poster in a concentration camp memorial is a very targeted provocation: it suggests that historical truths are being suppressed here.
SPIEGEL:
So you rule out that the AfD accidentally placed the poster there?
Wagner:
The mast on which the poster was hung belongs to the memorial, it is in the middle of our premises - at the parking lot, not far from the visitor information center.
And of course the AfD was aware of that.
In addition, no one can claim to be ignorant of the background to this place.
It is very clear that this was deliberately hung here.
SPIEGEL:
And if the AfD complains, possibly even filing a complaint?
Wagner:
It is not a criminal offense to remove someone else's poster from private property on private property;
We have legally clarified this beforehand.
And we are currently checking whether we can take legal action again against the AfD.
SPIEGEL:
In the photo showing the acceptance of the poster, it looks pretty damaged.
Did you not only remove the poster but also destroy it?
Wagner:
No, when we looked at it, it was already damaged - apparently with scissors.
We then took down the destroyed poster and secured it.
SPIEGEL:
Guaranteed?
Wagner:
Yes, it is now being kept here in our house.
We are currently examining, among other things, whether we - as has apparently already happened in other cases - demand a custody fee from the AfD.
SPIEGEL:
You are pulling out all the stops.
Would you have also accepted a poster from the Greens or the FDP?
Wagner:
Yes.
The right to vote is a very important democratic good, but a concentration camp memorial is not a campaign site.
A few years ago, another party put up a large election poster on the driveway to the Mittelbau-Dora memorial.
We asked the party to remove this advertisement, which it immediately did.
SPIEGEL:
What does the AfD say about the whole matter, have you spoken to each other?
Wagner:
No.
SPIEGEL:
Why not?
Wagner:
The AfD will receive a written notification from us.
She is happy to pick up the poster that we have secured.
In addition, I see no reason to speak to a party that demonstrably spreads historical revisionism and was hostile to any confrontation with National Socialism.
Why should we tolerate advertising for a party that represents extreme right-wing, racist and anti-Semitic positions?
Especially since this is not an isolated case.
SPIEGEL:
But?
Wagner:
There are always provocations on the part of the AfD: On the former concentration camp grounds, positions are represented that are directed against the critical discussion of National Socialism.
This has been increasing for five or six years - and not only in Buchenwald, but also in other memorials.
SPIEGEL:
Aren't you concerned that your actions will play into the hands of the extreme right?
The AfD can now pose as a victim of an attack on democracy and freedom of expression.
Wagner:
The AfD will present itself as a victim anyway, it always does. For us it is important to send a clear historical and political signal: The matter with the poster is an attack on the memorial work. We will never tolerate that, and that's why we spread it on social networks.