Photographer Luigi Toscano holds protest in Magdeburg

Photographer Luigi Toscano, known for his project ‘Against Forgetting’ which portraits Holocaust survivors, held a protest action in Magdeburg to signal opposition to far-right politics ahead of the Saxony-Anhalt state election.

Due to strong wind gusts, a planned demonstration march was canceled. Instead, large-format portraits of survivors, including the late Margot Friedländer, were displayed on the facade of the Magdeburg Cathedral for approximately one hour alongside members of the ‘Omas gegen Rechts’ initiative.

Toscano, who has met over 600 survivors, stated his goal is to set an example and speak out, noting that survivors have urged him to ensure such history never repeats itself. The protest comes as recent polling by the Mannheimer Forschungsgruppe Wahlen suggests the AfD, which is classified as far-right by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, could become the strongest force in the upcoming election with 41 percent of the vote.