An attack on democracy

Right-wing extremists deploy Holocaust distortion in an attempt to reframe German history. With myths downplaying past events and victim blaming becoming ever-present and taking many different forms on social media, it has become difficult for many people to identify them as untruths. The solution? Systematic research coupled with historical and political education.

Commentary by Jens-Christian Wagner

Holocaust distortion or even denial is far from a new phenomenon. Even prior to 1945, the Nazis peddled myths blaming their victims—spreading claims of Jewish plans to destroy Germany, or assigning responsibility for the Second World War to either the Jews, the British, the Polish or the Soviet Union.

The aim of these myths was, and remains, to reframe German history as a success story while trivializing, downplaying or relativizing the crimes of the National Socialist era (and those of German colonialism). They might also attempt to shift the blame to their victims by depicting the Allies (or Jewish conspirators) as the true war criminals. Anyone who propagates nationalism or pride in German history must attempt to remove the stain of the Nazi past by refusing to accept their criminality—or by shifting their guilt onto others. A tactic frequently deployed as of late is to claim that the Nazis were actually a left-wing party, given their name of
National »Socialists«. This strives to unburden right-wing extremism from the stigma of Auschwitz.

Recent years have seen a noticeable uptick in revisionist myths in public discourse. Digital disinformation
accounts for a significant proportion of this. Today, such online content is never more than a few clicks away.
Posts downplaying the Holocaust or glorifying the Nazis have gone viral, especially on social media platforms. The far-right scene in Germany comprises diverse groups, including »Reichsbürger«, »Montagsdemonstranten«, Identitarians, »Freie Thüringer« and »Freie Sachsen«, COVID deniers, Putin supporters and the »Neue Rechte« (New Right) movement—along with the political party »Alternative für Deutschland« (AfD; Alternative for Germany). This varied scene is simultaneously a symptom and a cause of the spread of revisionism.

Time and time again, members of the AfD—including individuals elected to parliaments—have espoused revisionist slogans. AfD politician Jörg Prophet, for example, has dismissed work to maintain memorials as a »Schuldkult« (guilt cult), equated the British air attacks on Dresden in February 1945 with the murder of Jews in Auschwitz, and whispered about the deaths of German soldiers detained in the »Rheinwiesenlager« by the US Army at the close of World War Two. The fact that these notions are being spread from state parliaments
affords them a veneer of democratic legitimation. By the same token, videos published on TikTok—including
by Maximilian Krah, the lead AfD candidate in the EU elections—seek to persuade young people that they should be proud of their ancestors, and that they were not criminals. These videos have been shared hundreds of thousands of times, reinforcing the shift to the right among younger voters.

History, not myths

In many cases, revisionist myths, codes and symbols are unknown to those outside the far-right scene—often because they lack the historical knowledge needed to spot them. As a result, revisionist myths can spread unhindered, with associated narratives becoming increasingly normalized. This is where the »Geschichte statt Mythen«External link (History, not Myths) project comes in. It is based at the Chair of History in the Media and Public Sphere, which I lead. It combines research with historical and political education. Following a systematic approach, the project monitors speeches, publications and social media posts to document revisionist positions in the far-right and open-right mixed scene in Thuringia, and assesses common patterns of argument. The project also examines the enduring influence of historical and political ideas disseminated in Socialist Unity Party (SED) propaganda in the former East Germany. The results are published on an ongoing basis in a blog. Not only does the blog identify revisionist myths, it also highlights who
is spreading them, by what means and to what end. It includes posts focusing on AfD politicians, such as Björn Höcke and Jörg Prophet, along with remembrance sites adopted by the New Right, such as »Gedächtnisstätte Guthmannshausen«, which combine historical revisionism with ancestral esotericism.

The blog is aimed at the general public. The project is funded by the Foundation for Remembrance, Responsibility and Future (Stiftung Erinnerung, Verantwortung und ZukunftExternal link), although only until April for the time being. Let us hope that the project can secure follow-up funding, as historical revisionism is highly unlikely to vanish into thin air in early 2025.