Last month members of the neo-fascist AfD Party (“Alternative for Germany”) held a secret meeting along with other right-wing extremists — including neo-Nazis- at a resort in Potsdam. The meeting was secretly recorded by the investigative reporting group Correctiv. What was discussed at the meeting has shocked people all across Germany:
The details of their scheme are shocking. Drawn up by key speaker, the far-right activist Martin Sellner, a central aspect of the plan was the idea of “Remigration”, that is, deporting foreigners who have already settled in Germany. Exactly who should be targeted for this place was spelled out in three groups: asylum seekers, foreigners with the right to remain and “unassimilated citizens”. According to Sellner, it was this last group who represent the biggest problem. “It’s not just that these strangers live here,” Sellner is quoted as saying. “They vote here, too.”
One of most grotesque aspects of this plan was the idea to build a “model state” in North Africa, housing around two million people. This proposed city would include opportunities for sport and education but, more importantly, it would be a place to “move” people. What about German citizens who support refugees? Well, they could move there, too.
The meeting recalled for many the notorious secret Wannsee Conference of January 1942 where Nazi leaders met to lay out plans for the Endlösung (“Final Solution”) — the mass extermination of European Jews.
For millions of Germans, this was the final straw. They have watched the AfD gain in the polls to become the second largest political party in Germany. It is time to push back. And tens of thousands of them have taken to the streets in cities across the country to protest — and call for a ban the of the AfD as threat to German democracy.
Today over 80,000 Germans took to the streets of Hamburg to protest. Police had to turn some protestors back since the crowd was getting too large. The mayor of Hamburg — Peger Tschentscher addressed the crowd:
Our message to the AfD and its right-wing network is this: We are the majority and we are united and determined not to let our democracy after 1945 be destroyed again.
The AfD’s “remigration” plan is identical to that of Donald Trump’s Republican Party, and Trump’s promise to deport the millions of immigrants “poisoning our blood”. The question is, will Americans bother to stand up to preserve democracy like the German people are today?
