Former German president warns of far right at 80th anniversary of Buchenwald liberation

VIENNA (AP) — Germany marked the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazis' Buchenwald concentration camp on Sunday as one of the country's former presidents warned against “radicalization and a worldwide shift to the right.”

The governor of the state of Thuringia, Mario Voigt, and former German President Christian Wulff spoke at a ceremony in the city of Weimar, near Buchenwald, attended by scores of people, including several Holocaust survivors from across Europe.

Voigt, whose state includes Buchenwald, called it “a place of systematic dehumanization” and said that everything that happened at the death camp “was designed to break the human spirit and its dignity.”

The Buchenwald concentration camp was established in 1937. More than 56,000 of the 280,000 inmates held at Buchenwald and its satellite camps were killed by the Nazis or died as a result of hunger, illness or medical experiments before the camp’s liberation on April 11, 1945.

Voigt also said that the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel showed that “the intention to exterminate Jews is not a thing of the past.”

He was referring to the attack by the Palestinian militant group that left some 1,200 people dead and 251 taken hostage, sparking the war between Israel and Hamas. The Israeli retaliatory offensive in the Gaza Strip has killed at least 50,695 Palestinians and wounded 115,338, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

In his speech, Wulff issued a stark warning about the current global political situation.

“Due to the brutalization and radicalization and a worldwide shift to the right, I can now — and this makes me uneasy — imagine more clearly how this could have happened back then,” Wulff said, referring to Nazi terror and the developments leading up to it.

He called for active commitment to democracy and the preservation of humanity. He said: “We bear a permanent, ongoing, eternal responsibility from this because evil must never be allowed to prevail again.”

Wulff also criticized the anti-immigrant and far-right Alternative for Germany party. He said that those who “trivialize” the party “are ignoring the fact that the Alternative for Germany’s ideology is creating a breeding ground for people to feel uncomfortable in Germany and that they are actually in real danger.”

Holocaust survivor Naftali Fürst, now 92, spoke at the wreath-laying ceremony held at the camp’s former roll call area. He spent ages 9 to 12 in four different concentration camps, including Auschwitz.

“To this day, the image is etched in my memory: carts pushed by prisoners loaded with corpses that were collected from the barracks and taken to the crematorium, reduced to ashes,” Fürst recalled.

Addressing the dwindling number of Holocaust survivors, Fürst remarked, “There are by now only very few of us left. Soon, we will pass the baton of remembrance on to you for good. In doing so, we are entrusting you with a historic responsibility. Remember on our behalf what you have learned from us. Because you are the witnesses of the witnesses.”

Fürst concluded: “Keep coming back to this place, to Buchenwald, where civilization was reduced to zero. Remain vigilant in our name, and in memory of us, recognize when human rights, women’s rights, children’s rights, and minority rights are being violated. And when and where democracy is under threat, act and remain, each of you, a human being.”

In the run-up to the memorial event, Israeli officials objected to a planned commemoration speech by philosopher Omri Boehm, the grandson of a Holocaust survivor and a known critic of the Israeli government and its actions in Gaza. This prompted organizers to withdraw the invitation.

Some 6 million European Jews were killed by the Nazis during the Holocaust.

Alojzy Maciak from Warsaw, survivor of the Buchenwald concentration camp, walks across the roll call square of the former Buchenwald concentration camp during the wreath-laying ceremony to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora concentration camps, Sunday, April 6, 2025. (Bodo Schackow/dpa via AP)

Flowers lie on a memorial plaque on the roll call square of the former Buchenwald concentration camp to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora concentration camps, Sunday, April 6, 2025. (Bodo Schackow/dpa via AP)

Flowers are laid at the wreath-laying ceremony to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora concentration camps in the crematorium of the former Buchenwald concentration camp, Sunday, April 6, 2025. (Bodo Schackow/dpa via AP)

Zee Borger from Israel, a survivor of Buchenwald concentration camp, speaks to journalists in the event hall at the ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora concentration camps., Sunday, April 6, 2025. (Bodo Schackow/dpa via AP)

Naftali Fürst, President of the International Committee Buchenwald-Dora, speaks at the wreath-laying ceremony to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora concentration camps, Sunday, April 6, 2025. (Bodo Schackow/dpa via AP)

Mario Voigt, Minister President of Thuringia, speaks at the ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora concentration camps, Sunday, April 6, 2025. (Bodo Schackow/dpa via AP)

Christian Wulff, former Federal President of Germany, gives the speech at the ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora concentration camps, Sunday, April 6, 2025. (Bodo Schackow/dpa via AP)

Oscar Piastri took his second win of the Formula 1 season in dominant style at the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday.

Piastri started on pole and kept Mercedes’ George Russell behind him, fending off a challenge for the lead after a safety-car restart.

Russell held on to second after defending his position on the last lap from Piastri’s McLaren teammate Lando Norris, who finished third after starting sixth.

“It’s been an incredible weekend,” Piastri said after claiming McLaren’s first-ever win in Bahrain. “To finish the job today in style was nice.”

Norris keeps the lead of the championship with a three-point advantage over Piastri. Defending champion Max Verstappen, who finished sixth, is five points further back in third.

Piastri had a no-drama run to the checkered flag, except for a drinks system which wasn’t working in the desert heat. Norris' race was a roller-coaster.

Norris made up three places off the start but was then handed a five-second penalty for starting too far forward on his grid space. After going down as far as 14th, he made up places and won a lengthy battle with the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton before falling short in his attempt to beat Russell for second.

“A messy race for me and disappointed not to bring home the one-two for McLaren,” Norris said.

Russell had to deal with electrical problems on his car and was facing an investigation into his use of the DRS overtake aid system. Russell said it had opened by accident when he pressed the button to use the radio but said he eased off and didn't gain an advantage.

Russell’s second place was the best result for Mercedes since Russell won the Las Vegas Grand Prix in November.

Leclerc was fourth for Ferrari after losing a hard-fought battle to Norris while his teammate Hamilton started ninth but cut through the field to finish fifth.

After last week’s race in Japan resembled a procession, with all of the top six finishing in the order they started, Bahrain offered a festival of overtaking.

Verstappen won last week but was never in contention in Bahrain and was even last at one stage. He survived an overheating car and a slow pit stop to place sixth, passing Pierre Gasly, who was seventh for Alpine.

Esteban Ocon of Haas was eighth, with Yuki Tsunoda ninth for his first points since joining Red Bull — and the team's first for any driver other than Verstappen since November — and Oliver Bearman 10th in the other Haas.

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia wins the Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix at Sakhir circuit, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (Andrej Isakovic Pool via AP)

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia celebrates after winning the the Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix, in Sakhir, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain in action during the the Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix, in Sakhir, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia wins the Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix at Sakhir circuit, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (Andrej Isakovic Pool via AP)

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia celebrates after winning the the Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix, in Sakhir, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia wins the Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix at Sakhir circuit, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (Andrej Isakovic Pool via AP)

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia celebrates winning the the Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix, in Sakhir, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

Second placed Mercedes driver George Russell of Britain, left, first-placed McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia, center, and thrid placed Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc of Monaco pose after the qualifying for the Formula One 2025 Bahrain Grand Prix, in Sakhir, Saturday, April 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

Seond-placed Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar of France3= congratulates pole position winner McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia during the qualifying for the Formula One 2025 Bahrain Grand Prix, in Sakhir, Saturday, April 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia in action during the qualifying for the Formula One 2025 Bahrain Grand Prix, in Sakhir, Saturday, April 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia reacts after winning the pole position during the qualifying for the Formula One 2025 Bahrain Grand Prix, in Sakhir, Saturday, April 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)