Descendant of Bonhoeffer disrupts AfD wreath-laying at Stauffenberg memorial

A commemoration event in Berlin marking the anniversary of the failed assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler was disrupted by an incident involving a wreath laid by the AfD party. Tobias Korenke, a great-nephew of the Protestant theologian and resistance fighter Dietrich Bonhoeffer, attempted to remove the AfD parliamentary group's wreath from the memorial site in the Bendlerblock.

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Many descendants, and I am one of them, feel real anger when we see the AfD laying wreaths here. We will not accept this here.

Security personnel intervened during Korenke's attempt, leading to a scuffle in which the wreath was damaged. Korenke expressed his strong disapproval, telling dpa, "Many descendants, and I am one of them, feel real anger when we see the AfD laying wreaths here. We will not accept this here."

A spokesperson for the AfD parliamentary group confirmed that the party had provided a wreath for the ceremony. They could not definitively state whether any AfD members were present. Götz Frömming, head of the group's history working committee, noted that the AfD, as a party represented in the Bundestag, is invited to these official commemorations.

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People are not born heroes

This year's main address was delivered by Federal Family Minister Karin Prien (CDU). Prien, who identified herself as a "citizen and descendant of victims and survivors of the Shoah," shared that her great-grandmother was murdered in the Sobibor extermination camp. She emphasized that democracy relies not only on institutions but also on an "ethic of civic responsibility" from individuals willing to act, even when inconvenient. Prien concluded by stating, "The freedom of tomorrow is decided by our actions today."

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The freedom of tomorrow is decided by our actions today.