The incessant snowfall over the past week rendered the grounds of the Platz der Republik, opposite the German Parliament building, into an ice-skating rink. Temperatures hovered between 0-2 degrees Celsius. Nevertheless, over 1,00,000 people participated in a demonstration against right-wing extremism here. Over the weekend of January 19 to 21, more than 100 such protests took place all over Germany, with over 1.4 million people making it clear that “Fascism is no Alternative.”
The wave of protests against right-wing extremism followed a shocking report from investigative news outlet Correctiv. On January 10, the independent non-profit published a detailed report about a secret meeting held on November 25, 2023, in a hotel in Potsdam on the outskirts of Berlin that involved members of Alternative for Germany (AfD) neo-Nazis and a bunch of far-right figures. At this meeting, an alleged ’masterplan for remigration’ was discussed, i.e., the removal of asylum seekers, ‘non-assimilated’ people, and those with ‘non-German’ backgrounds even if they held legal residency rights and citizenship. Apart from AfD, two members of the leading German opposition party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), were also present.
AfD happens to be the political party that’s polling the second strongest in Germany. In three states that go to elections in September 2024, AfD leads the polls. This party was founded in 2013 after the Eurozone crisis and on an anti-EU agenda. Since 2016, following the refugee crisis, when Germany accepted over a million refugees, the AfD switched positions to become an anti-immigration party. It has continued on a far-right path since entering the German Parliament in the 2017 elections.
According to Correctiv, one of the speakers at the secret meeting was Martin Sellner, an Austrian far-right activist associated with the Identitarian Movement—an ethnonationalist organisation deemed “a verified extreme right movement” in 2019 by the German domestic intelligence agency (BfV). Not only were plans for forced deportations discussed, but also how these policies would be implemented if the AfD came to power. Among the attendees was Roland Hartwig, the most prominent AfD figure and an adviser to AfD parliamentary chief Alice Weidel. He has since been removed from the party.
‘We don’t want this’
The findings weren’t surprising for Pradnya Bivalkar, an international relations professional, who moved to Germany from her home in Pune in 2009. What was shocking for her was that the report referred to things with their direct names as they had been heard and observed.
“The AfD is usually quite smart in treading the thin line by using the right words or trying to stay very ambivalent but putting out the message nonetheless,” said Ms. Bivalkar.
Richard K., who hails from Thuringia, was present at the protest to clarify that not everyone from his state supports the AfD. Thuringia is one of three states where AfD is polling the strongest at 33.6%, according to PolitPro.
“Sometimes it breaks my heart when I am in Thuringia to visit my family. On the streets, I hear all these right-wing opinions and awful things. I hope better for Thuringia because I believe that people from Thuringia are not of the mentality that the AfD represents,” said Mr. Richard.
Two elderly ladies holding the placard “Omas Gegen Rechts” (Grandmothers against the Right) expressed shock at the revelations of the ‘remigration’ plans.
“Bjorn Hoecke (AfD head in Thuringia) had written a book many years ago about how all the foreigners in Germany should be deported. Now it has come to light again in the public domain. And also, finally, many of us are saying, “No, we don’t want this,”” said one of the grandmothers.
Protest wave on rise
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed gratitude that so many people were taking to the streets in Germany to protest against right-wing extremism. “I say it in absolute clarity and severity: Right-wing extremists are attacking our democracy. They want to destroy our cohesion. He further wrote on X, “We won’t allow anyone to distinguish the ‘we’ in our country based on whether someone has an immigration history, or not.”
Mr. Scholz and Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock also participated in demonstrations on January 15.
“The main reasoning behind the mass movement of people has been about positioning and sending a strong signal against the far right in Germany,” said Daniel Saldivia Gonzatti, a protest researcher at the Berlin Social Science Centre (WZB).
Protests have been taking place every day since January 15 and are expected to continue until the end of the month, with a major one coming up on February 3. But how sustainable would the protests be in the long run?
“The challenge is having the right mobilisation structures to organise large protests. This is difficult in smaller cities, which is fundamental for the protests to continue. I think there will be large surges in the protests against the far-right in May - just before the European elections and maybe again in September - before the three states go to polls,” said Mr. Saldivia Gonzatti, noting that the current momentum would last a few more weeks.
Dark memories
For many Germans, the terms like “remigration” are a throwback to the Nazi policies of deportation of a section of the population. As per the German Office for National Statistics, 20.2 million Germans have a history of immigration. That means either they or their parents immigrated to Germany since 1950. Many demonstrators also compared the secret meeting taking place in Potsdam to the Wannsee Conference of 1942 (where Nazi officials discussed the “Final Solution” leading to the genocide of the Jews in Europe). Incidentally, the two venues are only a few kilometres apart.
For Ms. Bivalkar, words like remigration are the scariest part of the conversation. “It strengthens the fear of becoming “Heimatlos” (homeless) eventually. It makes an urgency to explore the possibility of going back to India,” said Ms. Bivalkar.
According to the AfD, the gathering in November 2023 was a private event with no connection to the party. Regarding the presence of AfD members, a press release stated, “The AfD members, who were also present there, had participated as private individuals, so none of the persons concerned could speak for our party.”
“It is scandalous when left-wing activists using Stasi methods attack a private meeting to spy on respectable citizens,” AfD’s Ms. Weidel said in one of her responses to the release of the report.
Calls for banning AfD
Among some German politicians, the calls for initiating investigations to see whether the AfD can be banned have begun to pick up steam. According to a local newspaper, around 49 politicians want to explore a ban procedure on AfD.
Banning the AfD is easier said than done, say many experts. Despite the secret meeting revelations, AfD is polling around 22%, second to the CDU (who are just over 30%). But in the three states that will be going to polls in September 2024, the AfD polls the highest.
According to Mr. Saldivia Gonzatti, a ban can theoretically be implemented, but it would take years to justify it and for it to come to pass. For a political party of AfD’s stature, that has massive active support in many states, Mr. Salvidia Gonzatti warns that a ban can lead to strange situations.
“You could escalate people’s anger if every fifth voter in these states cannot vote for their party. It could lead to absurd situations where these ideologies could find home in other parties. In that case, you can’t ban political parties every few years,” said Mr. Salvidia Gonzatti.
In the past, Germany has only legally banned two political parties in 1952 and 1956, respectively. In 2017, attempts to ban a neo-Nazi party known as the National Democratic Party (NPD) fell through after the German Constitutional Court deemed it too fringe and lacking in popular support to endanger German democracy.
German vice-chancellor Robert Habeck noted to a German magazine that any case to ban the AfD had to 100% stand in court, as a failed attempt would backfire. A common counter-sentiment to the ban is fighting the AfD politically rather than legally.
“Voting for the AfD is so 1933,” read many placards at the Berlin demonstration, referencing the year Adolf Hitler came into power.
Mr. Richard hopes the AfD isn’t voted into power in his home state Thuringia. “Whether AfD comes to power depends on the CDU, and how they behave now because the coalition options are really thin. I hope they decide for democracy and not for their own power struggle,” he said.
Ms. Bivalkar finds it heartening to see that people are out protesting. “At the same time, if the momentum is lost and the protests don’t translate into electoral success or political decisions, it may be just one of those impulsive, passionate things people get worked up about. It is up to everyone to ensure that the pressure stays,” she said.
(Nimish Sawant is an independent journalist based in Berlin)
