Hannah Veiler, 27, a social work student at Heidelberg University and former president of the Union of Jewish Students in Germany (JSUD), received a disturbing four-page letter filled with antisemitic incitement, Holocaust mockery and Nazi slogans — including a note inviting her to “Auschwitz to have a party for happy Holocaust.” The letter was signed “Heil Hitler.”
In an interview with UK-based outlet Jewish News, Veiler said she opened the letter a few days ago while checking mail at the Berlin office of the Jewish organization, which still receives correspondence addressed to her.
“I arrived and I started opening mail – everything looked normal. And one of the letters was a four-page letter, including a death note,” she said. “There’s an English one and then there’s another one in German saying, ‘Why did the Jews love to go to Auschwitz? Because the trip was for free.’”
The letter also featured a printed image comparing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler, alongside the message: “Oh Hanna, you are very sweet judensau… Let’s go to Auschwitz and have a party for happy holocaust… I want to **** ya three nights long for happy Holocaust.”
Veiler said she stopped reading as soon as she understood the contents. “I just didn’t read them because I saw enough, and everything was clear to me. There was no need to continue.” The letter has since been turned over to German police and is under investigation.
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According to Veiler, this isn't the first time she’s received threats. “About a year ago, I received a letter – three pages – and the person described how they wanted to send me through the gas chambers of Auschwitz. Emails, comments on social media – this has become a part of our reality. Not just for me, but for everyone who’s publicly Jewish, who works for a Jewish organisation.”
After some hesitation, she decided to publish excerpts from the letter on her Instagram account, where they went viral. “I don’t want people to think of me as the victim. I don’t want to be someone that people are sorry for… I don’t want the people who believe in this kind of ideology to think they have an effect on me. Because they don’t have the effect they want.”
Veiler warned that antisemitism in Germany has surged since Hamas’s October 7 massacre. “The evidence is very clear. Everyone’s reality has completely changed.”
She placed partial blame on the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which is currently polling at nearly 30%. “This is new for Germany,” she said. “It’s the first time since the Holocaust that the far right has actually had a chance of becoming the next government. And coming from a country like Germany, this is scary.”
Veiler believes the authorities aren’t doing enough to confront the threat. “There’s still a lot of denial. There’s still a lot of people who’d say Germany doesn’t have a problem with right-wing antisemitism… The state has to show strength. These groups must be banned. It has to be followed. It has to be prosecuted.”