Punitive action considered for German lawmaker opposed to Holocaust memorial

Germany’s AfD party said it was considering disciplinary action against a senior party member who criticized the presence of a Berlin Holocaust Memorial. 

Germany’s AfD (Alternative for Germany) party is considering disciplinary action against one of its state party leaders who criticized the presence of a Holocaust Memorial in Berlin.

AfD co-leader Frauke Petry suggested last week that Björn Höcke, party leader in the eastern state of Thuringia who had referred to Berlin’s Holocaust Memorial as “a monument of shame,” has become a “burden for the party” and should be ejected.  Höcke, who also said he wanted “nothing other than a 180-degree reversal on the politics of remembrance” in Germany, made his remarks to an AfD youth group in Dresden.

During a telephone conference on Monday, party heads agreed with Petry’s assertion that Höcke “damaged the party’s image” and therefore called for internal disciplinary measures to be taken against him. However, they stopped short of calling for his ejection from the party.

On his part, Höcke claimed that those members lodging complaints against him were attempting to accrue more political power within the party.

“I note with concern that the discussion about my speech is being abused by some party allies for internal power struggles,” he said at a news conference. “I sincerely hope that the AfD will not be destroyed by such power struggles, and that it will be able to preserve the pluralism of opinion that has made it so strong in such a short time.”

By: Jonathan Benedek, World Israel News

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