In history, Germany has been an undeniably problematic country; the Holocaust serves as an example of what happens when attitudes of racism and xenophobia culminate in a society.
Since the Holocaust, there has been a perceivable cultural change in Germany. The country is aware of its past and today has a zero tolerance policy against hate speech, which is included in a German concept called “volksverhetzung” that refers to criminal acts like the incitement of violence against specific segments of the population and assaults against human dignity. Germans are unified in their recognition of their country’s wrongdoings and their commitment to never letting the past repeat itself.
This unified front is threatened by the Alternative for Germany party, a far-right group that became the third largest political party in Germany in 2017.
The rising prominence of the AfD is one of the worst political developments of the year. The group runs on an unapologetically xenophobic and insular platform– it is against accepting Muslim refugees, against the integration of refugees already in the country, against same-sex marriage, against feminism, and skeptical of climate change. An AfD elected official has said, of the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin,
“Germans are the only people in the world who plant a monument of shame in the heart of the capital,” and criticized the “laughable policy of coming to terms with the past.”
Last semester, I took a seminar called Xenophobia and Xenophilia in Germany that focused on the rise of this group and others of the like. Before taking this course, I was only vaguely aware of how serious Germans were about shutting down hate speech and any speech that justified Nazism. It was a pleasant surprise to hear that the culture changed to accommodate history in a way that the United States, in my opinion, has failed to do with respect to our most shameful points in history. The controversy the AfD has brought about in its criticism of the way Germans recognize their history as one that is indisputably evil reminds me of the controversy in America about Confederate monuments. Proponents of Confederate monuments often defend the monuments in the name of Southern culture. Why anyone would want to be aligned with any sort of culture that fought for the preservation of slavery is beyond me; there are certain facets of history that do not deserve to be glorified. Slavery and Nazism are two of those.
Because I know how resilient Germans have become in the face of evil, it came as no surprise when I read this article about Germans getting together in Berlin on October 13th to protest racism and discrimination in relation to the rise of groups like the AfD. It truly warms my heart to hear that even the Foreign Minister of Germany praised the protest and everything it stood for, and gives me hope for Germany’s future in the face of the challenge that the AfD poses.
Worst in Politics 
Germany has very strict laws in place about the holocaust if you even have a nazi flag or say anything related to it I believe you can get in trouble (a teacher of mine went to germany and told me this). I’m glad that they accept their past and make sure not to repeat it but this far right party really does threaten that.
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While incredibly informative and well written, I think this week you erred too far on the side of facts and forgot to include yourself in the post, your reflections, and your specific point of view. The post was on a very serious and important topic, but I missed your perspective, your hot takes, and your thoughts. Don’t cheat the reader out of these important elements, it’s why someone would come to this blog instead of reading the news or going anywhere else online.
Also, the post feels short and not entirely fleshed out. It barely hits the word count thanks to the caption under the picture and the quote, so just make sure the post is the right length and not just satisfying a course requirement.
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oops i didn’t realize captions are included in the word count at the bottom of the screen
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you raise important issues here, and have the right politics. But, I did not know you were referring to a piece of actual contemporary news till the end, where you briefly mentioned this. Perhaps you should have structured with the news piece as a point of departure for the rest of the blog, that could have made your post stronger.
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First, let me start by saying I was hysterically laughing for like 5 minutes. Before I could even read the post, which is serious in nature, I just kept seeing Busch ducking from the shoe over and over and that had be ROLLING! I personally thought your blog was very well written. You provided a lot of necessary and new information that gave people the knowledge to further discussions on the topic. And to me, that’s what good politics is about. Not just picking a side, but being able to have a dialogue as to why you believe/think the things you do and why you stand with the views you pick. I think you did a great job and, while I would have hoped for more personal ties to you, your thoughts, or even the reason you picked this, I think it was a great post that many people should read.
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Snaps to you for mentioning what SO many people fail to remember: Germany has made moves to make up for what they’ve done in the past, America has NOT. We go so far as to white wash the truth in all of our textbooks. I’m pretty sure one of my teachers in high school even told us that Germans refuse to teach about the Holocaust in their schools which straight up is just bullshit. There are also SO many people who do not know we had our own “holocaust” of Japanese-looking immigrants during WWII after Pearl Harbor, the same time as the German Holocaust. I’m heated. Nice post!
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Germany has zero tolerance regarding to the speech of advocating NAZI, and if you get caught doing that in Germany, you r in a huge trouble. But, Germany is also a free country which values the free speech. I mean that there are so many many hate speech going on all over the world. In some places, some speech might not being appreciated, but you can still such voice, in some places, the speech might gets censored meanwhile, in some places, it is against the law. Distinguish the boundary of the free speech is tough.
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