Holger Winterstein, a member of the far-right German Alternative for Germany (AfD), appeared in a Facebook snapshot with the arms in the air and feet on a stone slab of the Berlin Holocaust monument. Accompanying the photo is a more than eloquent caption: «Lo Zeitgeist is only a short-lived phenomenon“, With reference to theopposition of his party to the prevailing view in Germany of repentance for the shameful parts of the past. The post was later deleted by Winterstein himself.
The photo was taken last Saturday, during the manifestation of AfD which saw the participation of more than ten thousand people under the slogan “Energy security and protection from inflation – our country first of all”. It lasts reaction of the Israeli ambassador in BerlinRon Prosor, that photo in which Winterstein dance on the monument to the Holocaust of the capital. For him, the politician of Alternative for Germany brought “shame on himself and on his party”. “Enjoy your shameful minute of fame because your name will soon be forgotten. The holy souls commemorated in the memorial will never be forgotten“, he said.
The party said it would take measures against Winterstein for his “extremely disrespectful behavior”. When asked about the incident by the German broadcaster MDR, the politician said: «He was really stupid of meBut added that he thinks the the hype for the photo is only due to the fact that it is part of the AfD. Winterstein is a county councilor in Thuringia, a central German state that received strong support from the AfD in the last elections.
However, this is not the only case, within Alternative for Germany, which in recent years has caused discussion. In 2017 the party leader, Bjorn Hoeckecalled the Holocaust monument a “monument of shameAnd asked Germany to make a “180 degree turn” in the way it remembers its past. At the time, a party court had rejected the deportation request.
According to local reports, AfD members were forbidden indefinitely to participate in Holocaust memorial services in the Buchenwald concentration camp in Thuringia, because their position “trivializes” the story.