The Central Council of Jews in Germany has expressed deep concern over the victory of the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD) in the regional elections in the federal state of Saxony-Anhalt. The president of this organization, Josef Schuster, stated that a party classified as far-right is one step away from governing a German state alone, considering that the voters who supported the party are responsible for this result. Charlotte Knobloch, president of the Jewish Community of Munich, said she is struggling to recognize her own country and warned that the foundations of democracy in Germany are no longer functioning.
The survivor of the Auschwitz extermination camp, Eva Umlauf, 83 years old, compared the AfD's victory to the rise of the Nazi Party in the 1930s, questioning what path Germany is following. Umlauf, who chairs the International Auschwitz Committee, stated that Holocaust survivors would never have believed it possible for a far-right party to be the most represented in a German regional parliament, promising to continue fighting for democracy and for memory.
According to preliminary results from the ARD and ZDF television stations, the AfD obtained nearly 44% of the votes in Saxony-Anhalt, well ahead of the Christian Democratic Union, which only achieved 17.5%. The far-right party is expected to win 39 seats in the regional parliament, just three short of an absolute majority, which could open the way for negotiations with elements from other parties or an alliance with the BSW movement.
Demonstrations against the AfD took place in Berlin, Frankfurt, and Mainz, with thousands of people demanding the party's ban. In Frankfurt, approximately 2,000 people protested, arguing that the party's ideals violate the Constitution. For Monday, a major demonstration has been called at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, where police expect around 5,000 participants. It is the first time since 1945 that a far-right party is so close to governing a German region.
