Holocaust Memorial chair up in arms as Elon Musk suggests ‘moving beyond’ Nazi Guilt

On Saturday, Elon Musk campaigned for Germany’s far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party and stirred yet another controversy while talking about doing away with the Nazi guilt. Musk, is one of the key members of the Trump administration and the richest person on the planet.

Musk, in an appearance at a virtual campaign event for the party, suggested that he could save Germany before the ‘snap elections’ take place in February. While addressing a cheering crowd on the screen, he said, “Children should not be guilty of the sins of their parents, let alone their great-grandparents.”

The head of the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency was referring to the Nazi past of Germany while talking about doing away with the guilt. His face was projected on the vast screen and added further, “There is too much focus on past guilt, and we need to move beyond that.”

The outpourings at the rally in the eastern German city of Halle were termed as ‘dangerous’ by the chairman of Israel’s official Holocaust memorial, Dani Dayan. His statements on X accused Musk of putting Germany’s democratic future in danger and being rude to the Holocaust victims.

According to Dayan, “The remembrance and acknowledgment of the dark past of the country and its people should be central in shaping the German society.” In what is seen as a change of policy regarding Nazism and the Holocaust, Musk’s hand gesture during a speech in Washington, resembling a Nazi salute also drew a lot of criticism.

The gesture was noticed just two days before the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. Musk showed up his support for a party, whose founder Alexander Gauland had once openly suggested moving beyond Germany’s Nazi past.

To underplay the great tragedy of human history, he had commented that the horrendous era was “just a speck of bird’s muck in more than 1,000 years of successful German history.”

AFD party has done it before too drawing a lot of flake

AfD Party’s attitude regarding Germany’s past has drawn immense criticism from all quarters, including the country and outside. To do away with the Nazi atrocities in the past is an important prop of the party.

Hard-right causes in Europe are now getting a support base from Musk. The anti-immigrant AfD party, which for the first time won a state election in Germany, has been a proponent of the said causes since World War II.

There are some voices of dissonance heard regarding both Germany’s past and future in the backdrop of extremist positions by right-wing parties like AfD. Most notably, the former director of the Anti-Defamation League, Abraham Foxman responded to both Musk’s comments and appearance at the rally.

He said, Musk’s appearance in and comments at the rally, just days after his speech in Washington, “help place the hand gesture in perspective.” Foxman’s statements are seen totally opposite to the policies of the current AfD party leadership. Musk has greatly boosted the group by his recent body language, while other political parties in Germany have refused to have any grouping with the latter, due to its extremist positions.

Allegations apart, Musk joked on X by referring to the names of some prominent Nazi leaders to trivialize somewhat the allegations. This, too, was responded with criticism. Meanwhile, Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL’s chief executive responded with, “The Holocaust is not a joke” on X.

Earlier, the ADL on Twitter (now X), said the Musk hand gesture was an “awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute.” The suggestion made on the social media platform, which Musk owns, defended the billionaire with, “In this moment, all sides should give one another a bit of grace, perhaps even the benefit of the doubt, and take a breath.”

Amidst reactions and criticisms, the AfD denies being an extremist party. Its leaders are often heard saying that Germany should stop expressing any regret for the Holocaust and the Third Reich. And now, the recent Musk appearance at the AfD rally is also the talking point, besides an earlier hand gesture at Washington.

To increase its influence among the masses, the AfD has used discussion over immigration policy quite effectively. In both 2016 and 2017, the party included the policy as one of the rallying points in the election manifesto. With the slogan, “Islam does not belong to Germany,” the right-wing AfD hopes for a significant win in February’s upcoming elections.

The party’s anti-Islam policy has been introduced into a section of the election manifesto since 2016. As of now, Elon Musk is increasingly becoming vocal about supporting the right-wing factions wherever they exist.

In this endeavor, he has supported many right-wing causes of parties like the hard-right Reform UK party and Italy’s far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. He has even gone to the extent of calling Meloni a ‘precious genius.’

In an interview with AfD co-leader Alice Weidel on X, Musk zealously supported the party, while most of the political parties in Germany have notably shunned it. The interview followed after the left-led coalition collapsed in February’s elections, where the second phase of polling was conducted.

Immigration was one of the many topics discussed in the interview on X, with Weidel. The latter also said that her party was wrongly blamed every time and that AfD policies were exactly opposite Adolf Hitler’s party.

She also added that left-wing political parties in Europe were equally antisemitic. “We are wrongly framed the entire time,” she said. Amongst the Afd party members, Musk’s comments about national identity and immigration in the rally were the issues discussed. “It’s good to be proud of German culture, German values, and not to lose that in some sort of multiculturalism that dilutes everything,” Musk said.