The AfD Leaves No Doubts

https://www.politico.eu/article/former-neo-nazi-activists-germany-far-right-ulrich-siegmund/

In less than a week, Saxony-Anhalt will likely see the AfD (Alternative für Deutschland) come to power, perhaps even with an absolute majority. Should this victory occur, Ulrich Siegmund will become the state's premier. This would constitute a major victory for the AfD and the crossing of a significant hurdle in terms of national politics.

Though Right-wing promoters of the AfD in the United States try to downplay it's Neo-Nazi ties and fascist ideology, this article makes the connections abundantly clear. Under Björn Höcke, the AfD won a plurality in Thuringia but was blocked from forming a government and now constitutes the leading opposition. Höcke's Nazi ties and fascist ideology are indisputable. But if they win in Saxony-Anhalt (as is predicted), they will have finally captured a state. It's worth noting that Saxony-Anhalt is part of the former East Germany (GDR), where the AfD has garnered considerable support. In the 1990's it was in the former GDR that we heard of Neo-Nazi gangs and the like - a reaction to decades of communism, and the cultural and economic frustration associated with unification in 1990.

Over and over again, reporting on the AfD reveals these types of ties - Neo-Nazis and fascist ideologues. But Western (and particularly American) audiences are confused and stumble over the National 'Socialist' label of the Nazis. Many Right-wing Americans consider the Nazis to be left-wing and thus these 'right-wing' politicians (in the AfD) represent no equivalent. This is to completely misunderstand the nature of the 'socialist' label in connection to Nazism. It was about collective identity and volkisch ideology - blood and soil nationalism (the elite people wed to their sacred birthright land) and a focus on race among other things. It is not the socialism that focuses on anti-capitalism, state control of the means of production, redistribution schemes, environmentalism, and the like. In fact there's little overlap between the two.

The only ostensible overlap (with the Left) is found the Nazi critique of unrestrained individualist capitalism. The regime had no problem with capitalism per se or even powerful corporations (such as Krupp) and wealthy industrialists. The difference was (for the Nazis) your corporation should be in service to the state and its interests. It was certainly not calling for redistribution or for the state to nationalise industry and break-up and distribute the corporate wealth of its monopolies. Hitler wanted German business and industry to be on board with the nationalist programme.

We see this in the kind of Authoritarian Capitalism found in China and while the US has higher salaries and a more flashy and individual-focused type of branding, don't be fooled, many (perhaps even most) large corporations work closely with the state. Or perhaps it could be said (and some argue this point) that in some capacity the American state pursues the interests of its corporations - an arrangement that can be just as problematic, even if it allows for a greater degree of domestic freedom - or has up to this point. The international costs can prove severe.

Additionally, the AfD appears 'liberal' to some Americans, all the more given that chairman Alice Weidel is a lesbian, even while other AfD members give strong expression to anti-homosexual views. The history is also confusing when it comes to the Nazis as some within the old Brownshirt paramilitaries or SA (in particular Ernst Röhm) were homosexual. But after their virtual elimination by Hitler in the Night of the Long Knives (1934), the Nazis took a very hard-line view against homosexuality. The SA was of course replaced by the Hitler-created SS who played a key role in the massacre.

The history is complicated, but the AfD qualifies in every respect as a far-right party with strong Neo-fascist elements - some of which exhibit Neo-Nazi ties, traits, and tendencies. There's also considerable overlap with Pegida (2014-2024). Pegida (or Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamicisation of the West) was a political movement that was involved in violent demonstrations and street fights. Its leadership and culture were permeated by Neo-Nazi philosophy, watchwords, and the like. While the AfD has tried to distance itself from Pegida the ties are self-evident.

Christian leaders in the United States who promote the AfD and give platform to its advocates (such as Tobias Riemenschneider) need to be challenged and called to repentance. They are either ignorant and way out of their league in addressing these topics, or are deliberately playing part in a cover-up of the AfD's true nature. Most often it's probably a combination of the two but this is no less problematic.

We should all be concerned as not only is the AfD being promoted, we see Elon Musk and others connected to MAGA doing all they can to promote the party and its ideology - directly interfering in European politics. AfD politicians are now appearing at CPAC conferences alongside Evangelical leaders, along with other Far Right politicos from Europe.

We can hope that the AfD will self-destruct and implode, but this in itself will not cure the virus that has infected the American Church.