In the run-up to the five state elections in 2026, the book is aimed at voters in the old and new federal states of Germany. According to Vinke, this election year could decide whether freedom and democracy still exist in the Federal Republic of Germany or whether the country is moving towards an authoritarian state.
In the pamphlet, Hermann Vinke makes a number of suggestions on how the advance of right-wing extremists and neo-Nazis can be stopped. The former ARD foreign correspondent and former programme director at Radio Bremen emphasises that young voters should no longer be exposed to anti-democratic influences online. In rural regions, "anchor people" must be recruited to combat the infiltration of entire towns and villages by neo-Nazis.
For the so-called. For the so-called "silent centre" - i.e. groups of voters who vote for the AfD for various reasons but are not yet part of the party's hard core - the pamphlet lists a number of ideas on how these people, who are by no means all Nazis, can be won back for democratic parties through new ways of communication.
Vinke is of the opinion that parliamentary democracy is facing its greatest challenge since the end of the war, and that freedom and the rule of law throughout Europe will be jeopardised if Germany develops into an authoritarian state. He sees his pamphlet "Decide!" in the tradition of Stéphane Hessel, the resistance fighter of the Resistance and great French diplomat. Hessel published the pamphlets "Empört Euch!" in 2010 and "Engagiert Euch!" in 2011 - appeals that resonated particularly strongly with young people in France and Germany at the time.
Vinke is the author of numerous books on resistance in the Third Reich and the history of the GDR. Since 2022, he has been working with a group from Gegen Vergessen - Für Demokratie e. V. He has been supporting initiatives and personalities who stand in the way of the advance of right-wing extremists.
Elke Gryglewski, Managing Director of the Lower Saxony Memorials Foundation, discusses with him.