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”.

    • cows_are_underratedEnglish
      41·
      6 months ago

      I wasn’t able to find the same Quote in a more reliable source, but I was able to find about 6 difference Websites quoting Abbu Sitta with this. The Quote also was(if I remember right) why he was denied(unlawfully) Entrance into Germany and France. https://www.plands.org/en/articles-speeches/articles/2024/i-could-have-been-one-of-those-who-broke-through-the-siege-on-october-7

      I will try to find a more Serious source and link it then.

      Edit: sadly i was only able to find a german Article regarding the palestina conference and why it had been stopped by the police: https://taz.de/Palaestina-Kongress-in-Berlin-aufgeloest/!6004209/

      In the Article they say the following:

      Grund für die Polizei, den Video-Vortrag von Abu Sitta abzubrechen, war offenbar ein Blog-Beitrag des 87-jährigen vom Januar. Darin hatte dieser geschrieben, wäre er jünger, hätte er einer derjenigen sein können, die am 7. Oktober die Blockade des Gazastreifens durchbrachen. Beim Überfall der islamistischen Hamas waren etwa 1.200 Menschen in Israel getötet worden. Als Redner war Sitta allerdings schon seit Monaten angekündigt, sein Vortrag also alles andere als überraschend. Dennoch griff die Polizei mit voller Härte durch, als sei akute Gefahr im Verzug.

      Translation:

      The reason for for the police to stop Abu Sitta’s video presentation was apparently a blog post a blog post by the 87-year-old in January. In it he had written had written that if he had been younger, he could have been one of those who who broke through the blockade of the Gaza Strip on October 7. During the attack attack by the Islamist Hamas killed around 1,200 people in Israel. were killed in Israel. However, Sitta had already been announced as a speaker for months, so his speech was anything but surprising. Nevertheless, the police cracked down as if there was imminent danger.