Holocaust deniers buried in the former grave of a scientist of Jewish descent

Enlarge image

Southwest cemetery in Stahnsdorf: neo-Nazi buried

Photo: Jens Kalaene / picture alliance / dpa-Zentralbild

The Holocaust denier Henry Hafenmayer was buried in Brandenburg in the grave of a scientist of Jewish origin.

The Evangelical Church Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia (EKBO) admitted this in a press release.

The burial was "a terrible mistake," said Bishop Christian Stäblein.

It is a shocking event "in view of our history".

One will now see "whether and what we can undo".

Several media had previously reported on the case, including RBB and "Bild" newspaper.

According to this, the burial at the grave took place on the basis of a sponsorship agreement.

In the cemetery there is the possibility of sponsoring historical graves, according to the »Jüdischen Allgemeine«.

The godparents acquire the right to have burials carried out in the tomb, for which they pay the costs for maintenance and care.

"Explosiveness not recognized in advance"

According to the church, Hafenmayer was buried last Friday in the south-west cemetery in Stahnsdorf in the former grave of the musicologist Max Friedlaender, who was a Protestant of Jewish origin.

The EKBO had made the decision not to refuse the request for a grave.

"The guiding principle is that everyone has the right to a final resting place," says the press release.

But the Church also admits: "The explosive nature of the process of replacing a right-wing extremist in the place of a Protestant of Jewish origin and providing a kind of stage for the right-wing mourners was not recognized in advance." The Church shared how this could happen not with.

Check the process, it just said.

According to »Bild« and RBB, Horst Mahler, among others, took part in the funeral service.

The right-wing extremist spent years in prison for countless incidents of sedition.

According to media reports, the deceased Hafenmayer had also been convicted of sedition.

According to the administration of justice, the anti-Semitism commissioner of Berlin, Samuel Salzborn, filed charges against unknown persons on suspicion of disturbing the peace of the dead.

Salzborn wrote on Twitter that it was obvious "that right-wing extremists deliberately chose a Jewish grave in order to disrupt the peace of the dead by burying a Holocaust denier."

The Central Council of Jews in Germany also reacted indignantly.

"The burial of a neo-Nazi and school denier on the former grave of the Jewish musicologist Max Friedlaender is unbearable," wrote President Josef Schuster on Facebook and Twitter.

The police were on duty at the funeral on Friday.

Initially, the Berlin research network and the »Blick nach rechts« portal reported on the funeral.

bbr / dpa