As of: January 22, 2024, 8:16 a.m
By: Christian Stör
Comments
Press
Split
Björn Höcke, parliamentary group leader of the AfD Thuringia, drew parallels in a speech between demonstrations against his party and the National Socialists' torchlight marches in 1933. © Daniel Lakomski/Jan Huebner/Imago
During an appearance in Gera, Björn Höcke also spoke about the anti-AfD demos in Germany.
He draws a comparison to the Nazi era.
Gera – Björn Höcke is once again causing a stir.
At a public consultation with around 200 people in Gera on the subject of asylum, the leader of the AfD parliamentary group in the Thuringian state parliament drew parallels between demonstrations against his party and the torchlight marches of the National Socialists in 1933.
“They held flashlights, i.e. cell phone lights, up to the sky.
But it looked a bit like the Nazi torchlight marches in 1933,” said Höcke on Thursday evening (January 18th), as can be seen from a video.
Höcke was referring to an anti-AfD rally in Leipzig.
Höcke compares demos against the AfD to Nazi torchlight marches
After these statements, Höcke went one step further and questioned the functioning of German democracy.
“I say this expressly to the foreign camera teams: Germany will no longer be a functioning democracy in 2024,” said Höcke.
According to a report in
Bild,
he later repeated his comparison and at the same time defamed the entire anti-AfD movement: “The cartel parties, especially the Reds and Greens, have put together a force of street fighters.
These do-gooders, often financed by taxes, who held up the lights are the same people who organized the torchlight marches in Nazi Germany in 1933.”
People take to the streets against Höcke and the AfD
Höcke's statements come at a time when tens of thousands of people across Germany are protesting against the AfD.
This was also the case with Höcke's speech in Gera.
According to police information, around 300 people demonstrated in front of the building against Höcke's appearance and his party.
The AfD is classified as “certainly right-wing extremist” in three federal states, including in its state association in Thuringia.
My news
“If word gets around”: Turkish community warns of consequences of naturalization reforms
Russia's “elite troops” apparently refuse to read Putin's Ukraine strategy
Friedrich Merz with Caren Miosga: “Nazi club doesn’t get us anywhere” read
“It will be quick”: Bavaria’s asylum card will be available in February
34 percent in the East: Map shows how strong the AfD is in your federal state
Two percent as NATO's target: Americans are slowly becoming impatient with Germany
The protests were triggered by a report by the media company Correctiv about a previously unknown meeting of right-wing extremists in a Potsdam villa on November 25th.
Several AfD politicians as well as individual members of the CDU and the very conservative Values Union also took part in the meeting.
The former head of the right-wing extremist Identitarian movement in Austria, Martin Sellner, said he spoke about “remigration” there.
(cs)