Political plea by victim of Nazis

AUSTRIA: An Auschwitz survivor has intervened in the Austrian presidential election with a plea not to allow the far Right back into power.

The 89-year-old woman, who gave her name only as Gertrude, warned that the anti-migrant rhetoric of candidate Norbert Hofer reminded her of the horrors of the Nazi era.

‘‘It’s the humiliation of others, the demonisation of others, that alarms me the most,’’ she said in a Facebook video. ‘‘We have already seen that scenario.

‘‘Like the Jews - they had to clean the streets. The Viennese, men, women and children, stood by and laughed. ‘Look at that! Hahaha!’ they said. And that’s what they’re trying to bring out in people again.’’

Gertrude was sent to Auschwitz at age 16, with her parents and two younger brothers, and was the sole survivor. At least 1.1 million people were murdered by the Nazis at Auschwitz, the overwhelming majority of them Jewish.

Hofer, of the far-right Freedom Party (FP), is the favourite to win Austria’s largely ceremonial presidency in a runoff vote next Monday.

The video, which was posted last week, has been viewed more than 2.8 million times. It was released by the campaign of rival candidate Alexander van der Bellen, an independent endorsed by the Green Party.

In it, Gertrude speaks out against Hofer and the FP for what she described as ‘‘the complete disregard for others, the attempt to appeal to the lowest aspects of humanity and to bring forth the worst traits out of people’’.

She condemned Hofer for his use of the slogan ‘‘So wahr mir Gott helfe’’ (So help me God), which was part of the Nazi oath of loyalty to Adolf Hitler.

‘‘I was there and heard that in 1933, 1934,’’ she said.

"The humiliation of others, the demonisation of others ... that's what they're trying to bring out in people again." Gertrude, Holocaust survivor

She also criticised FP leader Heinz-christian Strache for a warning he issued that immigration could cause a ‘‘civil war’’ in Austria.

‘‘I saw civil war at the age of 7. I saw a dead body for the first time and, unfortunately, that was not the last time,’’ she said.

Van der Bellen’s campaign said it was approached by Gertrude, who said she wanted to speak out.

Next week’s vote is a rerun of the final round of the Austrian presidential election. Van der Bellen won the original vote in May by a narrow margin, but the courts overruled the result after irregularities in postal voting. Hofer is currently leading in the polls.

‘‘There’s not much of a future left for me,’’ Gertrude said. ‘‘But the young have their whole lives ahead of them.’’

- Telegraph Group