Emmanuel Thomas, DPA, Saturday, June 3, 2023
BERLIN – The German-born CNN journalist and son of Holocaust survivors, Wolf Blitzer, has lamented the rise of anti-Semitism in the United States during a visit to Berlin on Saturday.
This was a core motivation for his new CNN documentary about the Holocaust, “Never Again,” in which he also touches on his own family history, the 75-year-old said when meeting German journalists in the capital city.
The renowned US journalist, known worldwide for his CNN daily newscast “The Situation Room,” was born in Augsburg, in the south of Germany in 1948. His parents, who survived the Holocaust, emigrated to the US with him and his sister.
His father, who is no longer alive, would have called his showing of a Holocaust documentary in Berlin “revenge on Hitler,” Blitzer told invited guests after the screening.
Blitzer was in Berlin this week to accept the top RIAS Media Prize for his film, which has been broadcast on CNN but has not yet aired on German television.
The journalist did not reveal whether he plans on producing more films in the future.
The fact that only a few Holocaust survivors remain is a problem, Blitzer told dpa.
It is crucial for younger generations to talk to Holocaust survivors, he stressed.
Blitzer said he had often openly discussed the Holocaust with his parents. Asked about the reasons for growing anti-Semitism, he said that hatred towards Jews has existed for a long time in the US and that it is painful whenever it comes back around.
Blitzer said he has returned to Germany many times since emigrating, including to Augsburg.
