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German far-right politician ‘danced’ on Holocaust memorial

Ambassador Ron Prosor said that far-right politician Holger Winterstein had brought “shame upon himself and his party.”

By Associated Press

Israel’s ambassador in Berlin has slammed a member of the far-right Alternative for Germany party for appearing to dance on the country’s Holocaust memorial.

Ambassador Ron Prosor tweeted Tuesday that far-right politician Holger Winterstein had brought “shame upon himself and his party.”

A picture posted on social media showed Winterstein posing with outstretched arms on one of the stone slabs that form the memorial in Berlin for the more than 6 million Jews murdered by the Nazis in the Holocaust.

German media reported that the picture was taken after a protest organized Saturday by Alternative for Germany. The party, known by its German acronym AfD, said it would take action against Winterstein over his “extremely disrespectful behavior.”

Winterstein is a county representative in Thuringia.

The party’s leader in the state, Bjoern Hoecke, in 2018 called the Holocaust memorial a “monument of shame” and called for Germany to perform a “180-degree turn” when it comes to the way it remembers its past. A party tribunal at the time rejected a bid to have him expelled.