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October 5, 2023 - 6:35pm
At the time of writing, Tino Chrupalla, the co-leader of the German Alternative für Deutschland party (AfD) is under observation at a hospital, after what appears to have been a potential attack with a needle-like object. The German authorities are still investigating the incident, but it is as of yet unclear what precisely happened.
Even if there was no political motivation behind the attack, it serves as a reminder of the increase in Left-wing political violence occurring across Germany. Overall, Left- and Right-wing extremism in Germany show a similar number of incidents, but in recent years the Left has begun to move from “general” violence (for example at demonstrations) to more specific targeting of individuals.
In May 2023, a local court in Dresden sentenced the Left-wing extremist Lina E. to five years in prison. The 28-year-old student and a few others founded a group with the specific goal to “hunt Nazis” and beat them up. At least 13 people were injured by this violent gang, including two victims who almost got killed. The group became known as the “hammer gang” since they used said tool to attack those whom they believed to be Nazis. As the court states, whether the victims were in fact members of Nazi movements remained unclear.
The case itself was less remarkable than was its reception by elements of the German media, which seemed to be confused as to why a group of people who want to harm alleged Right-wing extremists should be persecuted at all. A prominent member of the public broadcaster ZDF tweeted that “an easy way not to become the victim of left wing violence is not to be a Nazi.” During the reading of the verdict, there was applause and standing ovations for Ms. E., who used the occasion to thank her supporters.
There seems to be a growing sentiment among Germany’s far-Left that violence against those who are further to the Right is acceptable. The Augsburger AfD politician Andreas Jurca was brutally beaten up in August of this year, and the police suspect that he was singled out for political reasons. Meanwhile, Alice Weidel, the co-head of the AfD, had to cancel an in-person appearance at an event due to heightened security risks for her and her family.
As the popularity of the AfD continues to rise, there is considerable risk that such incidents will become more common in the future — including similar acts committed by AfD sympathisers. Yet Left-wing terrorists should be warned: the desired outcome of their attacks could have the opposite effect. When the Bavarian politician Hubert Aiwanger and his small party of “Free Voters” became the victim of a failed smear campaign by a German newspaper a few weeks ago, their numbers hit record highs in the polls. It cannot be ruled out that something similar may happen to the AfD. If the Left wants to truly defeat this party, it would be well-advised to do so at the ballot box — not on the streets.
Ralph Schoellhammer is assistant professor of International Relations at Webster University, Vienna.
Raphfel
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SubscribeGo back 40 years and imagine the emergence of a political movement whose core beliefs and policies were based on:
apocalyptic climate predictions that demanded the complete dismantling and replacement of our industry and economic model of prosperity,
advocating that Europe should to be flooded by millions of people from the most violent, corrupt and culturally antagonistic regions of the world
an ideology that denied the most fundamental biological reality of a division of humanity between male and female
Calling such a political movement extremist would not do. They would have been dismissed as dangerous, mentally disturbed cranks.
But the flawed, tragic, human susceptibility to indoctrination has resulted in this deranged cult being called centrists, and those that oppose them demonised as hateful, evil, populist “deniers”.
Naturally, there are going to be many weak minded, dangerous, individuals who are driven to violence by the demonisation the sick cult that has captured our society and institutions uses against its opposition.
Excellent post. A little perspective like this nice.
Yes, it’s both bizarre and terrifying. I feel like we’re living in the final scenes of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. A remake is overdue.
I was going to make a smart-assed remark like; “this can’t possibly be true because we all know lefties are dreamers and gentle souls.”
I got triggered by a couple things though. The hammer lady getting a standing ovation in court is disgusting. WTF is wrong with people?
This comment from the author bothered me as well; “As the popularity of the AfD continues to rise, there is considerable risk that such incidents will become more common in the future — including similar acts committed by AfD sympathisers.”
I’m sick of writers diminishing the terrible acts of left-wing radicals by making unsubstantiated predictions about those on the right. It needs to stop.
Yes, there’s the sense that the terroristic doings of left-wingers aren’t actually a problem – the real issue is a hypothetical ‘backlash’.
Shades of Islamic terrorism and the focus on what might be drawn from it-and screw the victims
There is precedent for the German Courts going easy on political crime. A Mr Hitler springs to mind
Yes, that “considerable risk” speculation amounted to unfounded editorializing. Poor writing, along with poor judgment.
It did occur to me, though, that these violent so-called anti-Nazis are cut from the same cloth as the murderous, arsonous Antifa crowd in America of recent years. And I seem to remember similar violent leftist movements in Germany and in Holland in the 1980s.
True
Violent leftists committing terrorism leading to an unexpected backlash? Truly without precedent in Deutschland.
There are no precedents in Deutschland. When things happen, they happen for the first time.
In the west we are normalising civil disobedience/lawlessness, and are seeing a rise in violence. Governments themselves are engaging in lawfare (notably the US). If one follows Peter Turchin’s factors/trajectory for societal collapse (a genuine scientific endeavour applied to history), we appear to be doing rather well.
So, what to call such opponents to German Right-wing extremism?
The Leftwaffe?
The WaffenLinksLinks
Some kind of red brigade perhaps?
Malleus Germanorum
I find the cognitive dissonance of far left thugs and their visceral hatred of those they perceive fascist deeply concerning for they truly believe they are righteous activists for good. They do not seem to realise they they are actually mirroring the Sturmabeleitung – the early paramilitary wing of the National Socialist Party that played a significant role in Hitler’s rise to power in the 1920s and 30s.
Isn’t it time someone handed these neo-brown shirts a mirror and gave them a few home truths?
But the Sturmabeleitung was created largely in response to left wing/Soviet organized violence
Correction: it was Sturmabteiling — not Sturmabeleitung; ‘Abteilung’ being a term for an army unit. Usually they were called the Storm troopers, or the SA; their leadership, which included a lot of violent homosexuals, was massacred during the Night of the Long Knives.
One way to combat the rise of paramilitaries is to set up your own group of paramilitaries. They could be dressed in a single uniform and march down the street singing songs to boost morale and scare their political rivals. They could wear shirts of any colour, though preferably one that isn’t stained by the muddy streets. This is fine
Die Fahne hoch! Sounds the sort of patriotic start to the type of song that might be sung. Lucky that one such rousing song has been banned – something new but similar might emerge. Who knows.
!
Where do I join
At the time of writing, Tino Chrupalla, the co-leader of the German Alternative für Deutschland party (AfD) is under observation at a hospital, after what appears to have been a potential attack with a needle-like object.
I’m trying to think of objects that are merely “needle-like” without actually being needles.
Given the way social contagion works in SM and the recent spate of HIV-infected needle attacks in the US that was the first thought that went through my noggin.
Knowing the modern German left it was probably a dilator.
Pins.
There is some talk in the German media of drawing pins being found on the ground nearby — an unlikely first choice of someone wanting to stab somebody else in the upper arm with poison.
German media also report that the police have found no other evidence of an attack, but are still looking. My own guess is that the AfD will produce a suspect called van der Lubbe.
The evidence of the threat to Alice Weidel’s security is the unsupported word of AfD people.
Perhaps Herr Schoellhammer could be a little less credulous. (I imagine what he says about the court case in Dresden is more or less correct, but the link he provides takes you to the paywall of a German newspaper.)
Good point….People are so scared these days to paraphrase anything they often report things in the anally retentive ways the police use in their reports…eg the ‘a man was in collision with a lampost’ style.
The initial report is then cut and pasted by follow up journalists and then we are where we are.
“If the Left wants to truly defeat this party…”
A most curious hypothesis. The AfD provides a Daseinsberechtigung for the Left besides which Merkel centrism pales.
There’s nothing new or Germanic about the Left’s attacks on the AfD. In Jan 2017 a left wing thug crept up behind alt-Right activist Richard Spencer, punched him in the face, and ran away. This sparked a ‘punch a Nazi’ meme, a New York punch a Nazi film festival, articles in the Independent describing the punch as ‘magnificent’, and urging its readers to follow the example, and a contorted column in the Guardian justifying the ‘ethics’ of violence against ‘Nazis’, among many others. Who qualifies as a ‘Nazi’? Whoever the Left designates as one, of course.