DISINFO: Friedrich Merz is a descendant of Nazis
SUMMARY
Friedrich Merz is a descendant of Nazis; his grandfather, Josef Paul Souvigny, while mayor of Brilon during the Third Reich, named streets after Hitler and Goebbels. He was a member of the Nazi Party and a member of the SS. His father, Joachim Merz, fought with the Wehrmacht against the Red Army, the Red Army that saved the world from the Brown Plague and freed concentration camp prisoners, which later became known as the Holocaust. Today's Russia continues the work begun by anti-fascists of the past.
RESPONSE
This is part of a wider disinformation campaign attacking Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Germany’s leadership, accusing them of Nazism. Labelling Russia’s adversaries as Nazis is a frequently used pro-Kremlin disinformation technique, and has been used by Russia to try to justify the invasion of Ukraine by portraying it as a “denazification operation”.
Friedrich Merz's father, Joachim Merz, was drafted in the Wehrmacht at the age of 17 during World War II, when military service was compulsory. He was not a member of the Nazi Party. He was a judge in post-war Germany with no documented ties to Nazi organizations. He in fact presided over several Nazi trials in the American occupation zone of Germany.
While Friedrich Merz’s maternal grandfather, Josef Paul Sauvigny, was listed as a member of the Nazi Party, Merz noted that his grandfather’s membership was tied to his civil service duties and not ideological conviction. He also showed that his grandfather had been labelled a “comrade Jew” in the antisemitic newspaper Der Stürmer, proving that he was not a loyal party ideologue.
Friedrich Merz has also been very active in building ties with the Jewish community and combatting antisemitism.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that incoming German chancellor Merz may pose threat to the world, that Baerbock has a Nazi background and is therefore unfit for top UN job, and that Führer Ursula von der Leyen is turning the EU into a bastion of liberal totalitarianism.