Eight Holocaust survivors have urged young people to shun far-right parties and vote to protect democracy in the upcoming European Union elections.

"For millions of you, the European elections are the first election in your lives. For many of us, it could be the last," read the open letter, presented in Berlin on Tuesday.

"We couldn't stop it back then. But you can today," the eight authors wrote.

'Our democracy must be defended again and again'

The letter was published by rights group Avaaz and signed by eight men and women aged between 81 and 102 who witnessed the Holocaust firsthand.

"I know that there was a similar development back then as there is today: a weak democratic government and a party that rallied the people who were dissatisfied," 99-year-old Walter Frankenstein said in a video statement.

"That's why young people today cannot just say 'Yes, I don't know who to vote for, so I'd rather not go at all.' That's the worst thing you can do. Our democracy must be defended again and again."

The far-right Alternative for Germany party (AfD) is currently polling at around 15% of the vote in Germany at the upcoming EU elections.

Ruth Winkelmann, who hid from the Nazis in a shed with her mother and sister after her father was deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp, said she signed the letter "because the AfD is becoming too strong."

She told the AFP news agency that the far-right party has "quite a lot in common" with the Nazis in the 1930s.

"As a democrat, you should recognize everyone, whether green, white or black, it doesn't matter. Whether you're short or tall, you can live together and have respect for everyone," she said.

zc/rc (dpa, AFP)

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