Reading with Hermann Vinke

In September 2026, state legislatures in Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, as well as the Berlin House of Representatives, will hold elections. Local elections will take place in Lower Saxony in September.

According to Vinke, this year could already determine whether freedom and democracy will continue to exist in the Federal Republic of Germany or whether the country will move toward becoming an authoritarian state.

Vinke, the author of numerous books on the resistance during the Third Reich and on the history of the GDR, is from Rhede-Ems in Lower Saxony.

In the pamphlet, he makes a series of proposals on how to halt the rise of right-wing extremists and neo-Nazis.

Young voters should no longer be exposed to anti-democratic influences online, emphasizes the former ARD foreign correspondent and former program director at Radio Bremen.

In rural regions, “anchor figures” must be recruited to counter the infiltration of entire towns by neo-Nazis.

For the so-called “silent center”—meaning voter groups who vote for the AfD for various reasons but do not yet belong to the party’s hard core—the pamphlet outlines a series of ideas on how these people, who are by no means all Nazis, can be won back to democratic parties through new forms of communication.

Vinke argues that parliamentary democracy faces its greatest challenge since the end of World War II, and that freedom and the rule of law throughout Europe will be endangered if Germany evolves into an authoritarian state.

He sees his pamphlet “Entscheidet Euch!” as following in the tradition of Stéphane Hessel, the Resistance fighter and great French diplomat.

Hessel published the polemic “Time for Outrage!” in 2010 and “Time to Act!” in 2011—calls to action that resonated strongly at the time, particularly among young people in France and Germany.

Since 2022, the author of the pamphlet “Make Up Your Mind!” has been working with a group from Gegen Vergessen – Für Demokratie e. V. to support initiatives and individuals who stand in the way of the rise of right-wing extremists.

(Language: German)