The alternative to Germany, or AFD, with its anti -immigrant and omidy platform for a long time, has long been a German policy. Its members have been fined due to Nazi slogans and described them as extremism by the government.
Before the national parliamentary elections on Sunday, a new group of influencers found votes among voters by bringing a more youthful feature to the party known for its equipment and disputes. They welcome the contempt of demonstrators, journalists and major political parties. Some of them are still circulating jokes about Hitler and the Jews, along with a cross Hill’s cross.
Their party and their ethics won the approval of gestures from Elon Musk, Adviser to President Trump, and Vice President JD Vance. They helped raise the party to the second position in opinion polls, even with the emergence of the political establishment from the government as part of a long -term commitment to side parties that are intense.
They are the changing face of AFD.
When Marie Teres Kaiser, 28, went to the AFD event in 2017, she was surrounded by retirees. She said, “They could have been my grandparents.” Things have changed. She said that young people who may be bad or hippocampus at a different time now find AFD – and publish them.
Mrs. Kaiser is a parliamentary candidate and personal assistant in the Alice Widel office, AFD leader. She attended the party on the cold Saturday morning in Setinsen, a small town outside Hamburg. She chose the place because she did not leave a discussion episode there due to the constant controversy over a social media post that violates the law of hatred.
In 2021, Mrs. Kaiser on Facebook criticized Germany’s acceptance of immigrants from Afghanistan. In this position, I asked the mayor of Hamburg if he created “a welcome culture of rape in the gangs?” The government imposed a fine of 6000 euros ($ 6,275) and condemned it by inciting racist hatred. She grown online to follow.
Other young activists adopted a confrontation to win the voices and gain followers.
On the last Saturday, Michel Golan, 23, stood in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin with a strict look at her face. It carried a microphone decorated with the YouTube channel, “Eingollan”, which includes nearly 200,000 subscribers.
It read its “Remigration” sticker, which is considered the AFD for deportation. The point was replaced by “I” with a pink AFD arrow.
She was trying to attract the demonstrators to talk to her, and feed a new video, and said she was showing her viewers on new ideas. She succeeded with a woman with AFD sticker on her jacket and a rainbow flag wraps around her shoulders, which discussed her for a short period.
The tense discussion left a huge smile on the face of Mrs. Golan: “For me, provocative also means exciting people.”
Whenever AFD gathered in the streets, as she did in Munich this month after the mother and child were killed by a migrant in a car attack, the demonstrators appear. And when the demonstrators walk against the party, as hundreds of thousands have already done in Berlin during this campaign, AFD activists appear in turn.
In such demonstrations, 24 -year -old Christopher Tam loves wearing Hoodie decorated with the logo of the AFD youth wing, which is ranked by German intelligence. Mr. Tamm said: “I say frankly that I am right, and that I stand for right -wing policy.”
The next morning, near Hamburg, AFD supported good morning to his volunteer colleagues who were traveling in the elections. He left his hand in Hitler’s greeting, which is illegal in Germany. He said: “Keep your arm like this for a little longer.”
Emilia Vester, 26, a member of Parliament from the Green Party, said that being provocative and enhancing fear and hatred works well on social media, but this tone should not be adopted by a major party. Mrs. Vester is not shy about speaking publicly against AFD. When lies or misinformation spread on social media, she said: “This is something that one must call clearly and define it.”
AFD young activists are an extension of a party that has found support in many of Germany’s corners since its foundation in 2013. It is a party that is no longer specified by one demographic, but it was instilled on a broader scale in a society where many still see AFD as right -wing extremists. In doing this, they created their own counter culture.
Wutbürger, a German rock music bank whose name translates into “Citizen Citizen”, has started making national music to combat the institution. Since then, I identified an identity and a fan from the extreme right, as it has provided close relations with some AFD politicians. It was also classified as a “right -wing extremist group” by the state government in Germany.
The song “Walhalla”, including the lyric, has become “We send our enemies to the east”, viral.
We have achieved our own counter culture. Andy Haberman, the group’s leader, said our own music, our rap culture, and our own culture. “We no longer hear the main current anymore, we don’t see them on TV, and we no longer listen to the main current on the radio. We know they describe, unfortunately. We have no other confidence.”
