False claims about the alleged Nazi origins of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen have once again begun circulating in the Czech information space. Fakes about her supposedly “Nazi ancestors” have been spreading on social media for more than three years, becoming especially active whenever the European Commission consistently supports aid to Ukraine. This time, propagandists have labeled the politician the “granddaughter of Karl Albrecht Hugo Laubero”, a Wehrmacht colonel. This was reported by the Czech outlet Denik.cz.

This time, social media posts depict Ursula von der Leyen next to a young officer in a Nazi uniform, claiming that she comes from a “family of fascists and Satanists”. Such messages are published in both Czech and Slovak and are accompanied by fabricated “evidence”. Previously, disinformers had already assigned the politician another fictional “grandfather” – an officer named Joachim von der Leyen. After that version was exposed as an obvious fabrication, it was replaced with a new character – Laubero.

In reality, none of Ursula von der Leyen’s ancestors had any connection to Nazism. She was born with the surname Albrecht; her father, Ernst Albrecht, was one of the first officials of the European Community, and her grandfather, Karl Eduard Albrecht, was a physician and psychologist. Her great-grandfather, Friedrich Karl Albrecht, was an entrepreneur. None of these individuals were linked to military or Nazi structures. Fact-checkers from AFP, Demagog.cz, and MythDetector reviewed the politician’s family tree using German genealogical archives and confirmed that none of her ancestors were involved with the Nazi regime.

The individuals referenced by disinformers did exist, but they have no connection whatsoever to Ursula von der Leyen or her family. Hugo Laubero served as a Wehrmacht officer during World War II, but he was not related to the politician. Another figure mentioned, Karl Albrecht Oberg, was an SS general who was convicted after the war for crimes against humanity. However, he also has no connection to Ursula von der Leyen’s family or to her husband.