If you ask Henning Vöpel what has shaped him as a European, he gives an answer that is rather unusual for an economist. He said he read the books of Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel very early on. „I was touched at a relatively young age that something like this had taken place in Europe by Germans,“ Vöpel says. Later, a political and economic interest came along. „That showed me: It’s important to be concerned with Europe and to keep standing up for peace and freedom in Europe.“