Counter rallies in Kaufbeuren show split between supporters of AfD and locals who acknowledge the Bavarian town’s Nazi past

Counter rallies in Kaufbeuren show split between supporters of AfD and locals who acknowledge the Bavarian town’s Nazi past

Soaring church spires, the 1,000-year-old town centre unblemished by second world war bombing or graffiti, snow-capped Alps in the middle distance – Kaufbeuren, in Bavaria, can count many blessings.

Unemployment is in the low single digits, the Luftwaffe backed away from plans to move its training school for Eurofighter and Tornado jet technicians elsewhere and crime is at a historic low.

However, as voters prepare to elect a new European parliament next month, deep-seated fears have gripped a significant share of the electorate in one of the most affluent pockets of Europe’s top economy and delivered it to the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD).

The bond between the party and its voters appears unshaken even by a cascade of recent scandals. The AfD’s lead candidate for the election, Maximilian Krah, was forced by his party leadership on Wednesday to resign from its board and stop campaigning after he told Italy’s La Repubblica that the SS, the Nazi paramilitary force which ran the death camps, were not all criminals and could only be judged on the basis of “individual guilt”.

  • Wanderer@lemm.eeEnglish
    0·
    6 months ago

    The longer all the other parties bury their head in the sand about immigration the more the far right gains votes.

    It’s one of the biggest issues for people in the West but the left like to pretend none of the real negatives exist.

    Would be good to see a left leaning party care about immigration.

    • TheUnicornOfPerfidy@feddit.ukEnglish
      0·
      6 months ago

      You know that immigration is a net positive for every western nation right? People coming to a country wanting to make a new life contribute to a its society and economy. They also help populations keep growing as birthrates are falling. It would be nice to see these sorts of arguments made more though, if that’s what you mean?

      • Head@lemmings.worldEnglish
        1·
        6 months ago

        You say that, but have you lived it? I go to anti-AfD protests but I’m still sick of having to walk through neighborhoods where all the women are in headscarves and the teenagers and young men always trying to grope and rob you. There’s an ugly side to immigration that the left does not want to address.

  • Allero@lemmy.todayEnglish
    0·
    6 months ago

    To be fair, not all right-wingers are Nazis and it’s not helpful to draw them as equals.

    But right-wingers can and do use Nazis when they are useful to their political goals, which is still to rip us off.

    Not all right-wingers are Nazis. Doesn’t mean they’re not evil.

    • Linkerbaan@lemmy.worldEnglish
      01·
      6 months ago

      Saying bad things about israel is super illegal in Germany. Actual antisemitism isn’t.

      • Todd Bonzalez@lemm.eeEnglish
        0·
        6 months ago

        This is not true. All forms of antisemitic speech are prohibited in Germany, and it is enforced.

        Yes, German authorities have been silencing pro-Palestine protesters, and falsely imply that they are being antisemitic. It’s an assault against free speech and human rights.

        No, this does not mean that whatever hyperbolic thing you say about Germany in response must be true.

        • Linkerbaan@lemmy.worldEnglish
          01·
          6 months ago

          Literal NeoNazi parties are rising up while a doctor from Gaza trying to give a lecture gets an EU wide ban. The double standard is clear as day.