Dennis Baum, a descendant of the Jewish Simson family, plans to speak at a protest rally against the AfD party convention on Saturday. During a visit to Suhl, the 82-year-old announced that he would not be marching in a protest but would instead speak at a “Festival of Democracy.”
The spokesperson for the family, which now lives in the U.S., is on a tour of Germany. In Suhl, he visited the city archives, among other places. He also signed the city’s Golden Book. On Thursday, he had already spoken at the New Synagogue in Erfurt, among other places. During his remarks, he spoke out against the AfD’s political co-opting of the Simson name, which is also associated with a well-known moped brand.
Simson mopeds produced in Suhl, such as the “Schwalbe” or S50/51, have cult status among many young people and symbolize the East German way of life and mobility. Time and again, AfD politicians—not only in Thuringia—are seen riding these mopeds or organizing group rides.
The factory where Simson mopeds were built in the GDR traces its origins back to the Jewish Simson brothers. It is thus part of Thuringia’s Jewish history. The family was expelled from Germany by the Nazis in 1936 and fled to the United States.
