From the Liveblog of
Sunday, January 26, 2025
Yad Vashem chair responds to Musk: Failing to acknowledge Germany’s past is a clear danger to its democratic future
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
Dani Dayan, chair of Jerusalem’s Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial, comes out against Elon Musk’s comment yesterday that there is “too much focus on past guilt” in Germany.
“Contrary to Elon Musk’s advice, the remembrance and acknowledgement of the dark past of the country and its people should be central in shaping the German society,” Dayan writes on X.
“Failing to do so is an insult to the victims of Nazism and a clear danger to the democratic future of Germany,” Dayan writes.
Addressing a rally for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, Musk said he believed “there is too much focus on past guilt [in Germany], and we need to move beyond that.”
“Children should not feel guilty for the sins of their parents — their great-grandparents even,” Musk added, referring to World War II and the Holocaust.
Musk’s comments came days after he was accused of making a Nazi salute at an event celebrating US President Donald Trump’s inauguration. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a message of support for Musk, saying he was “being falsely smeared.” Shortly afterward, Musk posted a series of Nazi jokes on X.
Tomorrow is International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Elon Musk tells an AfD rally in Germany: "I think there is too much focus on past guilt (in Germany), and we need to move beyond that. Children should not feel guilty for the sins of their parents – their great grandparents even" pic.twitter.com/xtFMfAYrIp
— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) January 25, 2025
The Times of Israel Community.