Alternative for Germany

Alternative for Germany (German: Alternative für Deutschland), often abbreviated as AfD is a far-right political party in Germany. The party is led by Chairman Otto Von Bismarck, Co-Chair Joseph Goebbels, and Treasurer Willhelm Burgerdorf.

In late November 2020, the AfD overtook the Christian Democratic Union as the predominant right-wing political party in Germany, becoming the largest party in Germany by membership and obtaining a plurality in the Bundestag.

Soon thereafter, extensive evidence of pervasive neo-Nazism within the AfD, including party leadership, was published in Bundes News, a German newspaper. Many have called for the expulsion of AfD leadership and all other members who have been exposed as neo-Nazis, or for the banning of the party as a whole.

Policy Platform
The AfD's public policy platform includes the following points:
 * Leave the European Union
 * Centralize the state
 * Institute universal, mandatory "national service"
 * Strengthen law enforcement and the military
 * Abolish political asylum and limit immigration
 * Protect the environment
 * "Preserve German Culture, Language and Tradition"

Ideology and Evidence of Neo-Nazism
The AfD's manifesto posits a conspiracy theory that "behind the scenes a small and powerful elite within the political parties is secretly in charge [of Germany]". This led many to suspect the foundation of the party's ideology in anti-semitism, given the resemblance between this and many longstanding conspiracy theories positing the existence of a secretive cabal of Jews ruling the world.

Many party members, notably including Co-Chair Joseph Goebbels and Treasurer Willhelm Burgerdorf, have names either identical to or closely resembling the names of infamous Nazi leaders and war criminals.

On 28 November 2020, Alexander Müller published a pair of exposés in the German periodical Bundes News containing numerous leaked screenshots of the official AfD Discord server showing party members (including leadership) sharing neo-Nazi propaganda, praising Adolf Hitler, calling for the extermination of LGBT people, giving the Nazi salute "sieg heil", using "Jew" as a pejorative, and instructing party members to conceal Nazi sympathies in public and forbidding any criticism of Nazi ideology. The AfD even had a secret executive body called the Gestapo (the name of the official secret police of the historical Nazi Party), led first by Heinrich Himmler, and later by Willhelm Burgerdorf after Himmler was removed from the position when party leadership became aware of his apparent bisexuality. Party leadership is internally referred to as "High Command", in keeping with the terminology used by the original Nazi Party. The Chairman is called the "Kaiser", and an unknown, high-ranking officer is called the "Führer" (the titles of the German Emperor and Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler, respectively).

Treasurer and Gestapo leader Willhelm Burgerdorf reached out to The Nation to give an interview in response to the scandal. He explained the the Gestapo was originally established to spy on other political parties, but over time became solely focused on issues internal to the AfD, including the prevention of public scandals. He also downplayed the significance of Nazism to the party's ideology, saying he had renounced his previous Nazi beliefs, and claiming certain members shown in the exposés had been expelled. He clarified, however, that Nazis would continue to be welcomed in the party, stating: "If a Nazi can behave and acts reasonably, then we have no reason to kick that specific person out".

Müller's second exposé was released after this interview, and provided evidence that Nazism was still dominant in the party, contrary to Burgerdorf's comments.