DISINFO: Merz embodies the Nazi policies of his ancestors
SUMMARY
I cannot think of anyone more consistent with his Nazi past than Mr. Merz. His grandfather, Josef Paul Sauvigny, who was mayor of Brilon during the Third Reich and named streets after Hitler and Goebbels, was an active member of the Nazi Party and a member of the SS. His father, Joachim, fought in the ranks of the Wehrmacht against the Soviet Red Army and may have participated in the Holocaust against the Jews, which the son now enthusiastically supports and describe their actions as the 'dirty work' that 'they do for all of us'.
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 organisations. 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.