Bundestagswahl 2017 – We Voted!

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AfD, Angela Merkel, Berlin, Bundestagswahl, German citizenship

With one of Berlin’s newest voters in tow, we headed to the polls today to help elect Germany’s 19th Bundestag. We were divided over the liberal parties and candidates on the ballot, but a much stronger force united us to vote against the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD). Merkel’s fourth term as chancellor may have been a foregone conclusion, but a huge motivating factor that drove us to vote was the chance to weaken a hateful party that campaigned with slogans like “we’re for bikinis not burkas” and “new Germans: we make them ourselves.”

Voting in my third German election at the start of the Jewish New Year once again affirmed my sense of belonging here. I trust Merkel to try harder than her abominable U.S. counterpart to meet the promise of democratic ideals. Although I’m horrified at the prospect of the AfD entering the Bundestag, I know that the vast majority of voters will have made a wiser choice.

This morning we awoke to the familiar gray skies and rain of the turning season, but the day felt anything but gloomy. Perhaps it was the Kenyans and Ethiopians who dominated the Berlin marathon (and almost broke the world record) that boosted my optimism about Germany’s future. Or maybe it was the now familiar sight of our fellow Berliners happily picking up a grilled bratwurst on their way out from our local polling place.

The Bundestag elections also come at a time when I’ve reached agreement with a local publisher on the terms of a contract for my book on restored German citizenship. I don’t yet have the contract in hand so I’ll hold off on saying more for the moment. There are many reasons why reclaimed German citizenship makes sense for families that were persecuted under the Third Reich, and I hope there are just as many reasons why the time is right for this book.

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The Face of Germany’s Far Right

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AfD, Frauke Petry, Germany, refugees

What kind of mother kisses her kids goodbye and goes off to whip the masses into a xenophobic frenzy of opposition to Germany’s refugee policy? That was the question I pondered after reading the latest news stories about weekend clashes in Berlin between asylum activists and the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

At the helm of the AfD is Frauke Petry, a 41-year-old mother of four with a background as a chemist and businesswoman. I didn’t expect a key leader of Germany’s anti-migrant zealots to be a relatively young and attractive woman. She’s been compared to France’s Marine Le Pen and accused of appearing entirely reasonable while supporting the xenophobic far right. This is the face of right-wing extremism in Germany.

I guess the fact that she’s a mom pushed my buttons. I don’t suspect we’ll find her kids doing volunteer work at any refugee shelters or standing around any train stations with “Refugees Welcome” signs. Nor do I suspect that Petry talks to her kids about the moral implications of the refugee crisis or the studies which show that EU countries have the capacity to welcome a vastly larger share of refugees than they have been doing so far. Instead, she calls for stronger ties to Russia and more children for German families, hoping to inspire a new generation of German mothers who follow the AfD’s politics of hate.

The AfD began as an anti-Euro party that pushed for a “Grexit” from the euro. Now that the AfD has staked out a position on the far right as Germany’s anti-immigrant party, let’s hope it will soon make its own exit from Europe.