Last September, German chancellor Friedrich Merz stood in a synagogue and wept. German chancellor Friedrich Merz at Berlin's Neue Wache memorial during commemorations to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the second World War on May 8th. He was the maternal grandfather of Friedrich Merz, who grew up in the house with his family until he was 10. In May 1933 the Nazi party, swamped with new membership applications, imposed a moratorium until it could clear the backlog. In interviews, Friedrich Merz has said he was inspired to study law from studying his father’s case files.
