"Krone" commentary
The return of the GDR, but different
A piece of history will be written in Germany on Sunday: The first state elections since the rise of the AfD (Alternative for Germany) and the Sahra-Wagenknecht-Party (BSW) will take place in the east. The consequences will change the political face of Germany.
It is the (re)rise of authoritarianism on the territory of the former GDR. Why this voluntary relapse to the far right? Thinkers are racking their brains over this and books are being written, but there is no conclusive answer.
The AfD is a milieu party that emerged from the forced cohabitation in the GDR. They wanted the Deutschmark, and when it came, they saw reunification as a West German conquest. They reject the American-European model of life and long for Vladimir Putin (who has just kissed the Koran in his Chechnya) as the supposed savior of the Christian West. Naturally, they are against "the foreigners".
The AfD is backed by Sahra Wagenknecht, who manages to talk a wide arc from nationalism to communism.
The former expatriate GDR opposition activist and singer-songwriter Wolf Biermann has bitter words for the "Ossis": "Those who were too cowardly in the GDR dictatorship are now rebelling against democracy without risk. They whine about the comforts of dictatorship and the hardships of democracy are alien to them."
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