Alternative for Germany (AfD) party

Police investigating threats against prominent Munich Holocaust survivor and AfD opponent

A witness found graffiti scrawled in white ink on a park bench and a trash bin in Munich’s English Garden park, threatening the life of 93-year-old Holocaust survivor Charlotte Knobloch.

|ByTOBY AXELROD/JTA
Charlotte Knobloch, president of the Jewish Community of Munich and Upper Bavaria, speaks during the christening of the new electric motorboat "Gmund." Sept. 1, 2026.
Demonstrators protest an AfD campaign event in Wietze, Lower Saxony, ahead of the local elections, Sept. 10, 2026.

Germany’s far-right AfD makes gains in local elections, fended off by mainstream parties

The nationalist, anti-immigrant AfD siphoned off votes from Germany’s mainstream parties in the northwestern state, home to 8 million people. The election was seen as a test of the AfD’s recent surge

|BySHIRA LI BARTOV/JTA
(L to R) Green Party spokespersons Amanda Lind, Sweden Democrats leader Jimmie Akesson, Social Democratic Party leader Magdalena Andersson, Swedish Prime Minister and Moderate Party leader Ulf Kristersson and Left Party leader Nooshi Dadgostar take part in a televised debate on September 10, 2026.

Swedes vote in election that could usher far right into government

Europe's rising far-right parties would welcome the Sweden Democrats' electoral success, boosted by the AfD's significant win in a German state election this month.

|ByREUTERS
People gather in front of the Brandenburg Gate to protest against the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) the day after the party won in Saxony-Anhalt state elections, Berlin, Germany, Sept. 7, 2026.

Germany’s far-right AfD, riding state win, targets more gains in elections from east to west

The three upcoming elections are being closely watched for signs of the AfD’s wider-scale momentum, said Daniel Schuster, who heads the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s European office. 

|BySHIRA LI BARTOV/JTA

German far-right party put under surveillance first time since Nazi era

The Central Council of Jews in Germany welcomed the decision, saying: "The AfD's destructive politics undermine our democratic institutions and discredit democracy among citizens."

MARCH 4, 2021ByREUTERS
Alternative for Germany (AfD) leader Alexander Gauland raises his arm during a plenum session at the lower house of parliament, Bundestag, in Berlin, Germany March 13, 2020

Rise in German antisemitism, extremism has Jews questioning their future

Several reports have shown that right-wing extremism has even seeped into the country’s police forces, including one elite squad that the government disbanded over its “toxic leadership.”

JANUARY 9, 2021ByCNAAN LIPHSHIZ/JTA
Swastika and the word "Raus" (Out) are sprayed at a asylum seeker accommodation in Waltrop, western Germany, on October 13, 2015.

Extremism on the rise in Germany, increasing threat of antisemitism

A German government office identified 32,080 right-wing extremists and 33,500 left-wing extremists in Germany in 2019.

JULY 12, 2020ByDONNA RACHEL EDMUNDS
Attendee at Neo-Nazi concert, Themar, Germany, July 2017