Unless you speak German and are into German politics, you probably are unfamiliar with Sperrminorität. The word means “blocking minority”—the ability of a political party or parties to block bills that require two-thirds of lawmakers to pass.
That status has been achieved now by the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, in two regional elections. The party secured 31% of the vote in the German state of Saxony and 33% in Thuringia. The results have been widely described as “the first far-right victory in any German state since 1945” and sent shockwaves throughout the world. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called the results “bitter” and “worrying,” and lamented that “Our country cannot and must not get used to this.”
Were the AfD local victories the harbinger of a major earthquake, or just a passing tremor? And was the fear born of the results justified in the first place? It’s complicated. Well, at least a little.
The AfD resists the EU model of confederating European nations, economically or otherwise. It is proudly nationalist, touting German culture and history. And, most prominently, it is anti-immigrant, especially if the immigrants are, like most who seek to reside in Western Europe, Muslims. The party seizes on the fear that such newcomers threaten German security and increase crime, both of which concerns are not without justification.
The party, though, does not reject the German democratic system or democracy as an ideal; its main focus, its supporters insist, is on preserving the safety of citizens and German cultural identity.
And yet, its leadership has raised some…concerns over the years.
The man who led the AfD to its recent first-place finishes is Björn Uwe Höcke.
Back in 2017, he gave a speech in which, referring to the Holocaust memorial in Berlin (the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe), he stated that “We Germans are the only people in the world who have planted a memorial of shame in the heart of their capital,” and suggested that a change of attitude regarding the years of World War II was called for.
Subsequently, the majority of AfD leaders, to their credit, tried to expel Herr Höcke from the party. A party tribunal, however, rejected that effort.
More recently, in 2021, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Her Höcke claimed that “Hitler was regarded as only bad,” implying that some fine aspects of the Führer have been overlooked.
That same year, he ended an election speech for his party with the slogan Alles für Deutschland—“Everything for Germany,” the public use of which phrase is punishable by law in Germany. He claimed he hadn’t known the Nazi origin of the slogan, but was convicted and fined €13,000 (approximately $14,000).
Herr Höcke wasn’t humbled, though, by that loss. He is said to have invoked, if not entirely pronounced, the slogan again in December 2023, where he shouted to an audience, “Everything for…” allowing his listeners to complete the phrase with a spirited “Germany!”
Despite the AfD’s leader’s troubling leanings, there is a group called “Jews in the AfD.” Its founder, Wolfgang Fuhl (whose surname I will NOT pun upon), dismisses claims of the party’s anti-Semitism, noting that it is “an exceptionally pro-Israel party.” That, he says, is what counts.
Christoph Heubner of the International Auschwitz Committee, which was founded by concentration camp survivors, begs to differ. He called the recent state election results “deeply depressing,” saying that he would have thought “that Germany, after the experiences of the Holocaust, the rise of the Nazi party, the SS…would be especially aware of the dangers of [the AfD] ideology. And of people who are fond of this ideology and who try to bring it into politics and parliaments.”
Bolstering the proposition that the AfD’s rise is a threat to Jewish life is the party’s longstanding wish (likely aimed at Muslims but with obvious implications for Jews) to effectively outlaw ritual slaughter of animals and circumcision.
AfD holds 77 seats in Germany’s federal legislature, the Bundestag, out of the congress’s current (it fluctuates) 733 members. When the next national election to determine the body’s future composition is held, on September 28, 2025, many will be watching to see how those numbers might change.
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