How the Establishment Plots to Silence Germany’s Last Patriots
When democracy band the opposition
Constantin von Hoffmeister warns that the enemies of Europe speak of democracy while plotting its death, and nowhere is this betrayal clearer than in the CSU’s desperate campaign to ban the Thuringian AfD and silence its leader, Björn Höcke.
Germany features two main center-right parties alongside the rising nationalist Alternative for Germany (AfD). The CSU, or Christian Social Union, operates as a Bavarian party and sister to the CDU (Christian Democratic Union). Many nationalists view it as fake conservatives who talk of tradition and tougher borders but have long tolerated high levels of immigration, EU globalism, and establishment compromises. Markus Söder leads the CSU and serves as Bavaria’s Minister President. Björn Höcke heads the AfD in Thuringia, an East German state where the party enjoys strong support for its firm defense of German culture, borders, and sovereignty. Klaus Holetschek acts as a key CSU parliamentary leader and close ally of Söder. Recent statements from these CSU figures have sparked sharp debate.
Höcke has become one of Germany's most controversial politicians through statements that have sparked nationwide debate, including his call for a “180-degree turn” in Germany's culture of remembrance, his description of Berlin's Holocaust Memorial as a “monument of shame” in the context of criticizing German memory politics, and his repeated use of the phrase “Alles für Deutschland” (“Everything for Germany”). Although the expression predates National Socialism, it became the official slogan of the SA (stormtroopers) during the Third Reich and is therefore prohibited under Section 86a of the German Criminal Code. Höcke argued that he had used the words in their ordinary patriotic sense rather than as a reference to the SA, but German courts found that he had knowingly employed a banned Nazi slogan and convicted him on two occasions, imposing fines totaling €29,900.
Why has Germany's political establishment now concluded that Höcke must be removed from public life at any cost? Read on and find out!
