Saxony-Anhalt has voted. The AfD could take control of the state government. This would mark a historic turning point: for the first time since 1945, a far-right party would assume governmental responsibility. A party that denigrates efforts to confront the crimes of National Socialism and has announced a fundamental shift in historical policy would gain the instruments of state power needed to enforce that agenda.
For memorial sites and institutions of historical and political education, this would create a fundamentally altered situation: those who politically oppose their work could in future have a say in determining their funding and staffing. Demands rooted in historical revisionism could become state policy. The Federal Government and Germany’s states must now respond to this threat clearly and decisively.
The Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorials Foundation therefore calls on the Federal Government, the Bundestag and Germany’s states to protect memorial sites, places of remembrance and institutions of historical and political education by legally safeguarding their academic and educational independence as well as their funding. Warnings alone are no longer enough. Binding safeguards are needed that remain effective even if a state government withdraws its support from these institutions or attempts to subject their work to party-political directives.
In its government programme, the AfD condemns what it calls the “perpetuation of a guilt complex” through the examination of Nazi crimes. It has announced a “patriotic shift”. It also intends to require associations seeking public funding to make a “credible commitment” to a “patriotic outlook”. A politically defined ideological stance would thus become the standard by which state funding is awarded.
There were 42 satellite camps of the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora concentration camps in the territory of present-day Saxony-Anhalt. They were sites of forced labour, violence and death—in the midst of towns, communities and businesses. This history gives rise to a responsibility that does not end at state borders. Today, memorial sites in Langenstein-Zwieberge, Wernigerode and Rehmsdorf, among others, commemorate these camps. The Foundation remains committed to examining this history and to working with the institutions and initiatives active in the region.
“The history of these camps cannot be subordinated to any patriotic directive,” says the Foundation’s Director, Professor Jens-Christian Wagner. “Memorial sites must be able to continue conducting independent research and providing historical education even when their findings displease a government. Confronting the crimes of National Socialism must remain a foundation of our political understanding of ourselves.”
The Federal Memorial Sites Strategy explicitly recognises the need to protect memorial sites from political interference and safeguard their independence. At the same time, it affirms that securing institutions of national significance is also a federal responsibility. Together with Germany’s states, the Federal Government and the Bundestag must fulfil this commitment through robust legal and financial safeguards. These must include the protection of academic decisions from party-political interference and long-term funding agreements.
Funding mechanisms are also needed to ensure that institutions remain operational if state funding is withdrawn for political reasons. A lack of state funding must not additionally prevent them from accessing federal support. Smaller memorial sites and local initiatives that have not previously received federal funding must also be taken into account. Their continued existence must not depend on volunteers compensating for the state’s abandonment of its responsibilities.
The necessary support extends beyond legislation and public budgets. Existing networks of memorial sites, educational and cultural institutions, and civil society initiatives provide a foundation for this. The Foundation calls for these connections to be expanded across state borders and used for concrete cooperation: for joint educational projects, legal advice, and public support in the face of attacks on institutions and their staff.
Turning away and giving up are not options. Those who defend historical truth, human dignity and democracy in Saxony-Anhalt must not be left to stand alone.
