German populists to discipline member for Holocaust remarks

Source: Associated Press


David Rising, Associated Press Updated 10:20 am, Monday, January 23, 2017


BERLIN (AP) The nationalist Alternative for Germany party said Monday it will take "internal measures" against a prominent member for his comments suggesting ending the country's tradition of acknowledging and atoning for its Nazi past, but stopped short of expelling him from the party.

The AfD party said its executive board found that the statements from Bjoern Hoecke last week "hurt the party's reputation." It said the party is examining "all legal and political aspects" involved in disciplinary measures. It didn't elaborate on what measures were being considered.

Hoecke, who leads the populist party in the eastern state of Thuringia, told supporters that the Berlin memorial to the millions of Jews killed in the Holocaust is a "monument of shame" and said Germany should take a "positive" attitude toward its history.

Hoecke said in a statement that he welcomed the decision not to initiate proceedings to remove him from the party, but didn't back down from the comments, saying only that they were being "misused by some party friends for internal power struggles."

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