MUNICH, Germany: Eva Umlauf, an Auschwitz survivor and president of the International Auschwitz Committee, said the Alternative for Germany’s victory in the Saxony-Anhalt state election appalled her.
The result left the far-right AfD within reach of power in a German state for the first time since the end of World War Two, according to Reuters.
Umlauf was two years old when Allied forces liberated her and her mother from Auschwitz in January 1945. Now a paediatrician and psychotherapist in Munich, she visits schools to teach children about the Holocaust.
Auschwitz survivor Eva Umlauf said she was “appalled” by the AfD’s victory in Saxony-Anhalt, which left the far-right party within reach of state power.
The AfD rejects comparisons with the Nazi Party and denies being anti-Semitic. It advocates tighter immigration controls, leaving the euro and restoring closer relations with Russia.
Read: AfD Saxony-Anhalt Poll Raises Security Concerns
The Central Council of Jews in Germany has accused the party of providing a political home for anti-Semites and far-right extremists.
Read: German President Dissolves Parliament, Calls for Snap Elections
Meanwhile, Saxony-Anhalt’s domestic intelligence office classifies the AfD’s state branch as right-wing extremist, a designation the party rejects as politically motivated.
Umlauf said she does not believe the AfD represents most Germans. She said she hoped the party’s rise would mobilise voters who oppose it.
