AfD Poised for Historic Win in Saxony-Anhalt Vote — SkimNews
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- Ulrich Siegmund, the AfD's lead candidate in Saxony-Anhalt, could become Germany's first postwar far-right state premier, with polls showing the AfD at ~40% versus the governing CDU at just over 20%; no other party has agreed to coalition, but if smaller parties miss the 5% threshold, that lead could yield an absolute majority.
- Dennis Baum, the US-based heir and spokesperson for the Simson family, called Siegmund's use of Simson mopeds — produced by his Jewish family's company before Nazi expropriation — "repulsive" and "an insult to our family name," in comments to Tagesspiegel.
- The AfD's 250-page Saxony-Anhalt manifesto contains no explicit reference to the Holocaust, Nazi crimes, or Jewish history, while criticizing what it calls "national masochism" and pledging a "patriotic turnaround."
- Josef Schuster, president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, called the election a "litmus test for the democratic center" and labeled Siegmund a "declared enemy of our open society," urging rival parties to maintain their refusal to cooperate with the AfD.
- The manifesto also demands children of asylum seekers be taught in "special classes" and refers to homosexuality as a "sexual deviation"; its main author, deputy chairman Hans-Thomas Tillschneider, was previously accused of saying the Central Council of Jews was "using" Islam to "bring about the abolition of our people."
- Artur Abramovych, who leads "Jews in the AfD" (which says it has about 25 members), publicly backs Siegmund, arguing an AfD government would end "state funding of left-wing extremist nonsense."
- Germany's domestic intelligence service classified the AfD as right-wing extremist in 2025, enabling intelligence monitoring — a decision the party is currently challenging in court.
Why it matters: Saxony-Anhalt's state government controls police funding, school curricula, and cultural institutions for the state's roughly 1,100-member Jewish community, which relies on the state for security and financial support; if smaller parties fall below the 5% threshold, the AfD's ~40% lead could translate into an absolute majority with no coalition firewall from rival parties.
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