---
[ POLITICS ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/la-election-2022)
# European Leaders Condemn Musk's 'Ominous' Push for Germany to 'Forget' Holocaust
January 27 2025
Written by Julia Conley.
[](https://www.addtoany.com/share)
MUSK MEDDLING - Billionaire enterpreneur [Elon Musk](https://www.commondreams.org/tag/elon-musk) [insisted](https://www.commondreams.org/news/elon-musk-afd-event) at a far-right rally in Germany over the weekend that the European country must move "beyond the past" and leave behind the memory of one of the deadliest genocides in history—but as leaders on the continent marked the 80th anniversary of the Auschwitz concentration camp liberation on Monday, several made clear that Musk's advice was not welcome.
Musk's comments on "'the need to forget German guilt for Nazi crimes' sounded all too familiar and ominous," [said](https://x.com/donaldtusk/status/1883485247633027457) Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Sunday. "Especially only hours before the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz."
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz [said](https://www.euronews.com/2025/01/27/european-leaders-criticise-musk-for-telling-germans-to-move-beyond-the-past) on the social media platform X, "I couldn't agree more."
The country's ambassador to [Israel](https://www.commondreams.org/tag/israel) said that while Musk claimed German children are treated as "guilty of the sins" of the Nazis during World War II, the government simply wants "them to grow up informed and responsible and to apply the lessons of Germany's past."
As Common Dreams [reported](https://www.commondreams.org/news/elon-musk-afd-event), the Tesla CEO and key adviser to U.S. President [Donald Trump](https://www.commondreams.org/tag/donald-trump) made the remarks at a rally for Alternative for Germany (AfD) on Saturday, five weeks before Germans are set to vote in federal elections.
AfD is currently polling at 19%, trailing the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which is in first place at 28%. But leaders across Europe, including Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, French President [Emmanuel Macron](https://www.commondreams.org/tag/emmanuel-macron), and Scholz have [warned](https://www.commondreams.org/news/musk-spain) that Musk appears to be angling for the spread of far-right ideologies—including neo-Nazism—in European countries.
The AfD has been designated a "suspected extremist" group by Germany's domestic intelligence agency, and one of its candidates for public office last year said that "not all" Nazis who worked for Adolf Hitler's government were criminals.
The party has been ostracized in Germany, with other political groups including the CDU ruling out the formation of a coalition government with the AfD, but last week CDU leader Friedrich Merz said he would push for tougher anti-immigration proposals even if they were submitted by the AfD.
Scholz, who represents the Social Democrats, [told](https://www.dw.com/en/will-german-conservative-merz-demolish-far-right-firewall/a-71403725)Stuttgarter Zeitung in response to Merz's comments that "the firewall to the AfD must not crumble."
As Tusk oversaw the liberation of Auschwitz anniversary on Monday, International Holocaust Remembrance Day, he alluded to Musk's comments at the AfD rally.
"We must not forget the tragic lesson of our past," he said on X, which is owned by Musk. "Evil, violence, and contempt cannot triumph anew."
Musk's comments came days after he [appeared](https://www.commondreams.org/news/lemkin-institute-musk-salute) to flash a Nazi salute twice at an event for Trump's inauguration.
In the U.S. on Sunday, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker [addressed](https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/26/politics/video/tariffs-threats-donald-trump-colombia-deportation-flight-contorno-nr-digvid) Musk's remarks at the AfD rally on CNN, asking why Trump hadn't spoken out against them.
"President Trump ought to be calling that out," said the Democratic governor. "If he doesn't agree with Elon Musk, if he doesn't agree with two Sieg Heils at his own rally, and backing a party that backs Nazis, then he ought to say so. Why isn't Donald Trump speaking out?"
*(Julia Conley is a staff writer for Common Dreams where this article was first published.)*
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/115 "Brian Goldsmith Vertical R. Col")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/107 "LA DWP | Save $4K, Green | Priority Ad")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/114 "McKinney Campaign")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/82 "LA DWP #2 (Power Savers)")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/98 "Donna Tryfman - HS1-1")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/97 "Home - LA DWP #2 (Pay Water Bill Help)")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/111 "David DeJute Campaign")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/112 "Anna Reitano Vertical R. Col")
## Get The News In Your Email Inbox Mondays & Thursdays
Message
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/113 "Rhonda Haymon campaign")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/110 "Something You Should Know")
---
## Featured CityWatch Stories
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/election-2024/33624-prosecutor-democrat-city-attorney-mckinney-makes-his-case-to-los-angeles-voters)
### [Prosecutor, Democrat, City Attorney? McKinney Makes His Case to Los Angeles Voters](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/election-2024/33624-prosecutor-democrat-city-attorney-mckinney-makes-his-case-to-los-angeles-voters)
ELECTION 2026 - The race for LA City Attorney has been laced with political accusations and allegations that when close…
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/la-watchdog/33544-the-la-watchdogs-2026-voters-guide-2)
### [The LA Watchdog’s 2026 Voter Guide](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/la-watchdog/33544-the-la-watchdogs-2026-voters-guide-2)
LA WATCHDOG - My recommendations are influenced by the need for truly balanced budgets, fiscal responsibility, long ter…
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/los-angeles/33626-the-fools-blame-game)
### [The Fools’ Blame Game](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/los-angeles/33626-the-fools-blame-game)
THE VIEW FROM HERE - Angelenos do not use elections to plot a wiser course of conduct for Los Angeles, but rather they…
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/los-angeles/33619-california-film-tax-credits-arent-enough-the-guilds-need-to-change-too)
### [California Film Tax Credits Aren’t Enough. The Guilds Need to Change Too.](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/los-angeles/33619-california-film-tax-credits-arent-enough-the-guilds-need-to-change-too)
LONNIE’S VIEW - California used to be the center of the movie and television universe. If you wanted to make movies, yo…
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/voices/33648-heres-what-zionisms-got-to-do-with-it)
### [Here’s What Zionism’s Got To Do With It](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/voices/33648-heres-what-zionisms-got-to-do-with-it)
ICAN - The anonymous website “BHUSD Watch” recently published a long, detailed article about the current BHUSD board an…
---
## [ POLITICS ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/la-election-2022)
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/la-election-2022/33603-angelenos-centrists-can-save-america)### [Angelenos’ Centrists Can Save America](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/la-election-2022/33603-angelenos-centrists-can-save-america)
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/la-election-2022/33559-nithya-raman-wants-city-hall-first-explain-the-87-million)### [Nithya Raman Wants City Hall. First, Explain the $87 Million](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/la-election-2022/33559-nithya-raman-wants-city-hall-first-explain-the-87-million)
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/la-election-2022/33561-is-america-creeping-away-from-polarization)### [Is America Creeping Away from Polarization?](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/la-election-2022/33561-is-america-creeping-away-from-polarization)
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/la-election-2022/33577-nithya-raman-gets-votes-as-gotcha-by-bass-goes-bust)### [Nithya Raman Gets Votes As 'Gotcha' by Bass Goes Bust ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/la-election-2022/33577-nithya-raman-gets-votes-as-gotcha-by-bass-goes-bust)
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/la-election-2022/33524-nithya-raman-wants-mcdonnell-out-as-lapd-chief-is-george-gascon-her-answer)### [Nithya Raman Wants McDonnell Out as LAPD Chief. Is George Gascón Her Answer?](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/la-election-2022/33524-nithya-raman-wants-mcdonnell-out-as-lapd-chief-is-george-gascon-her-answer)