Recent assaults spark national debate over Germany’s increasingly raw political climate, with some seeing echoes of its dark history.

One politician ruthlessly beaten while hanging campaign posters. Another assaulted in a public library. Yet another, pushed and spat on by suspects who were part of a group of people allegedly calling out “Heil Hitler.”

A string of violent attacks on politicians in Germany — including a brutal assault on a member of the European Parliament in Dresden — has shaken many and sparked a national debate over the increasingly raw political climate in the country, with some drawing comparisons to the kind of political violence that accompanied the rise of the Nazis.

Recent attacks on politicians are “reminiscent of the darkest chapter in German history,” said Hendrik Wüst, the conservative premier of North Rhine-Westphalia, in an interview on German public television.

    • DarkThoughts
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      116 months ago

      Huh? This was an internal purge within the Nazi party. How is that related?

      • @[email protected]
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        56 months ago

        It’s not. Well, the SA (who got purged that night) is relevant because they were the literal brownshirts, the NSDAP’s goons on Weimar Republic streets. Lot of political violence going on back in the days. The Nazis had the SA, the communists the Rotfront, Socdems were part of a wider alliance and the nationalists/monarchists also had one.

        Right-wing stochastic terrorism has been simmering on low flame for a long time, if you want a more direct parallel I’d point you to the NSU.

        Agitation-wise I think this time around CDU and FDP are the main culprits, especially when it comes to stuff being done to Green politicians. Their rhetoric is pouring petrol on various conspiracy narratives. I’ll just leave this here (there’s English subtitles).

      • @Carrolade
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        -16 months ago

        You really can’t see how a historical example of widespread political assassinations pertains to an article featuring a political assassination, simply due to the target not being the same people?

        • DarkThoughts
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          46 months ago

          The attacked member is neither part of the AfD nor is she dead. So no, I cannot see it. What this is comparable to is the SA, if anything, or rather a stochastic terrorism variant of it that is guided through social media propaganda. But comparing this to the assassination of the socialist opposition within the Nazi party is just ludicrous.

          • @Carrolade
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            -26 months ago

            If you read the actual article, it mentions a political assassination that did succeed. Regardless, political assassination is political assassination, it is never justified in a society where the law applies to all people, regardless of the target. We need to take a stand against extrajudicial political violence period, unless we want to encourage more chaos and criminality in our societies. People that believe in violence are unlikely to stop at just some violence, that would be inconsistent and irrational.

            • DarkThoughts
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              56 months ago

              I don’t read Axel Springer trash but I certainly don’t recall the AfD assassinating one of their own party for not following the extremists line.

              • @Carrolade
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                -56 months ago

                I was not saying they did, was I? I guess you don’t read a lot of stuff.

                • DarkThoughts
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                  6 months ago

                  That’s highly ironic, because you should start by reading the wiki that article you posted, since you clearly lack the understanding of what happened in that event. Hence why you try to make it applicable to events that have absolutely nothing to do with it. Nice insult though.

                  • @Carrolade
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                    -36 months ago

                    So, you think some political assassinations are justified, or do you think the article does not have any political assassinations in it? It’s one of the two.

        • @[email protected]
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          26 months ago

          Nobody died this time but other than that i agree it doesnt matter if the rivals are in the same party or not.