Leon de Winter unloaded: Migration policy divides Jewish festival

Leon de Winter unloaded: Migration policy divides Jewish festival

The excitement surrounding the Jewish Cultural Festival in Osnabrück, which is scheduled to take place from September 4th to 7th, 2025, is keeping people's spirits high. The Dutch writer and filmmaker Leon de Winter was invited as a star guest at the festival, but his participation has now surprisingly been canceled. The reason? His controversial views on migration policy, which the Jewish Community of Osnabrück consider to be incompatible with its basic values. This is reported by the Jewish General.

De Winter was scheduled to speak at the festival about the history of his ancestors, including accounts of Hartog Eijsman, who died in Osnabrück in 1889. But after his critical column in the “Welt” on May 5th, in which he dealt with refugee and asylum policy in Germany, he was disinvited. Michael Grünberg, the chairman of the Osnabrück Jewish Community, emphasized that the decision was also related to de Winter's statements about the AfD, which he described as trivializing. The AfD is a threat to democracy in Germany, Grünberg continued. De Winter, on the other hand, sees himself as an artist and finds the rejection surprising and unjustified.

Controversies surrounding migration policy

The debate surrounding de Winter's opinions on migration has reignited the discussion about the limits of freedom of expression and the responsibility of artists in public discourse. The writer firmly rejected the accusation of representing extremist views. He stated that he was fundamentally opposed to the immigration of people hostile to Jews and other groups. In his statements, he called for men up to the age of 55 not to be granted permanent asylum and made reference to the Dutch “Englandfahrer” from the National Socialist era.

His goal with the lecture was to honor the life story of his family. Finally, his grandmother was deported to Sobibor in 1943 and murdered. De Winter wanted to shed light on this sad story and at the same time draw attention to the challenges of current migration policy.

A festival dedicated to culture

The upcoming Jewish Cultural Festival in Osnabrück aims to keep Jewish culture alive and celebrate it. Despite the controversy surrounding de Winter's disinvitation, anticipation for the festival is great. The event is intended to give the community a space to reflect on their identity and history. The invitations to other artists and personalities show that there are numerous voices and perspectives in the Jewish discourse that want to be heard.

The Jewish Community of Osnabrück sees itself as having a responsibility to represent values ​​that not only respect the past, but also positively shape the present and future of its community. The question remains how much freedom of action artists actually have in public spaces - and what consequences their statements can have. In this sense, it is important to follow the debates carefully.