Fighting for the future with the past

The Nazi death camp at Buchenwald and the nearby factory where mass-murder “ovens” were built and designed for Auschwitz are some of Germany’s darkest reminders of the Holocaust. The groups who run the public memorials at the sites are determined to use them to make sure their history remains in the past. But in recent years, as the far right has gained support and the memorials have broadened their work educating about the Holocaust to efforts against racism and xenophobia, they’re increasingly in the firing line — so much so that after speaking out publicly against the AfD recently, the Buchenwald memorial director has received death threats. Valerie Hamilton reports.