Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania | “The fascists feel inspired”

The AfD's electoral success in the northeast has given the extreme right self-confidence. Photo: IMAGO/Karsten Thielker The woman ends the conversation and turns around. Then she lowers her head and holds her hands in front of her eyes. A tear rolls down her cheek. As a reporter, I am overwhelmed. I usually leave when someone doesn't want to talk to the press, as this woman made it abundantly clear. But you don't just leave a person who is crying alone.

After a short sob, the woman finally speaks. “My son has multiple disabilities,” she says. Then she immediately falls silent again - as if no further explanation was necessary. I asked her what she thought of the results of the state elections in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

The AfD became the strongest force there on Sunday with 38.2 percent. The party speaks out clearly against the inclusion of disabled people, wants to reduce support and devalues ​​people with disabilities in its political rhetoric. This is partly reminiscent of the dehumanizing policies of the National Socialists, who systematically destroyed disabled people and murdered them thousands of times.

The woman blows her nose, wipes the tears from her face and sits up. She works as an employee in a pharmacy that is located on the main street of a tiny town in the Mecklenburg Lake District I constituency. It is the brownest area in the entire state. Here the AfD got a whopping 51.68 percent of the second votes.

Neither her exact place of residence nor her name will be mentioned in the newspaper, I promise the woman that. “It’s already so difficult in my environment,” says the 37-year-old. A customer enters the store; she lowers her voice. Her partner's father is an ardent supporter of "them," she says, meaning the AfD. "I just don't understand it," the woman sighs. "The followers probably long for community, but we have that."

For example, there were arguments in her family about postal voting. Before the election, claims were made in right-wing circles that the election would be manipulated. For example, in a 17-second clip, alleged postal voting documents can be seen, but the AfD was missing from the ballot paper. A voice can be heard saying: “Well Lars, I told you that the AfD was missing from my ballot.” But these videos were fake.

The pharmacist's father-in-law apparently also fell for it. “He then told us we were stupid for voting by post,” she says. "But my husband stood up to him, and I thought that was good." She and her husband always voted by postal vote, because you never know whether she might have to go to the hospital with her son on a Sunday. “He also has epilepsy,” she explains.

In the pharmacy employee constituency, Enrico Schult won the direct mandate for the AfD. Schult comes from Demmin, is 47 years old and is a surveying technician by profession. He got more than 54 percent of the votes, the second best result after SPD Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig in Schwerin.

Schult was number one on the AfD list and was considered the secret top candidate. Leif-Erik Holm, officially designated as the “prime ministerial candidate” and portrayed as a moderate, remained pale in the election campaign. In retrospect, he was criticized.

Schult swore to his supporters on election evening: “If we march in here with our troops. They will tremble before us. And they're right to tremble." He didn't say who exactly he meant by that. But the list of those for whom the AfD could be dangerous is long.

The owner of a kebab snack bar in the small town of Gnoien is not one of them. The AfD doesn't intimidate him with this. “Of course that’s not our choice,” says the native Greek. “I was happy with Ms. Manuela,” he explains, referring to the previous Prime Minister Schwesig.

Even after many years of working in Germany, the Greek does not have a German passport. However, he is not afraid of the AfD's remigration plans. His colleague, who comes from Bulgaria, also emphasizes this. »Our suitcases are ready. If someone sends us home, we can go, no problem.”

"I don't want to have to move again."

The anti-fascist Jonas-Imam Dogesh sees it differently. “I don’t want to have to move again,” says the 61-year-old from Rostock with the bomber jacket and flat cap. He comes from Elbistan in Turkey, had to flee in 1999 and now looks after refugees who arrive in Germany. On Sunday evening, he and a few colleagues followed the outcome of the state elections in the garden of the Peter-Weiß-Haus, a cultural center in Rostock. "On the one hand, I am relieved that the AfD's votes are not enough to govern." On the other hand, he is sure "that the fascists feel inspired by this result." How does this show up? “In my sports group, people suddenly say openly that they like the AfD,” says Dogesh. "That's scary."

The mood is somewhat better – at least on election evening – among anti-fascists in the Rostock youth and cultural center “JAZ”. The SPD won in the Hanseatic city and two neighboring districts. "If it continues like this, I'll soon have a higher per mille than the CDU percentage," laughs a woman with blonde curls. Another explains that schnapps is drunk here every time new constituencies are counted and the CDU's result falls further as a result. “Of course it’s a bitter joy,” a woman with five millimeter short hair immediately adds. In fact, people are deeply saddened by the AfD result, even though it didn't surprise anyone. “We have also registered a rally in the city center for tomorrow,” says the woman in her mid-twenties.

Another AfD direct candidate would prefer to abolish the right to assembly in the Basic Law: Tommy Thormann from Rügen announced a few months ago that he wanted to “outright ban” counter-demonstrations if his party came to power. But although 44.26 percent of the votes in Rügen went to Thormann, there are also people in this constituency who are of a different opinion. One of them is Jürgen Kaufmann, 38 years old, who has lived in a small village on Ummanz for many years. "I have a sinking feeling in my stomach," he says about the election results. The uncertainty reminds him of the Weimar Republic. Kaufmann, a single father of two children, is involved in the volunteer fire department and is part of the “Uns Eigen” cooperative. This was founded at the end of last year to prevent investors from buying up a hostel that serves as an important local cultural location.

“We have surfers sitting next to local council representatives of all stripes, while the wedding of a same-sex couple is taking place right next to them,” he emphasizes. Kaufmann is worried about “the firewall being weakened” by the other parties. “The AfD will co-govern sooner or later,” he is certain. Given the heated political mood, he describes initiatives such as the cooperative as particularly important. “We are open to everyone who values ​​the people and this special place at the end of the world,” he promises.

For the time being, the AfD will not be able to govern in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, after all it has missed out on an absolute majority. The parties that are represented in the state parliament after the CDU and BSW failed to pass the five percent hurdle are likely to stick to their promise not to form a coalition with the right-wing extremists.

"If the AfD were in government, I wouldn't know what I should do," says the woman in the pharmacy. She can already feel the shift to the right more than clearly in everyday life. Like that? »There was a final demonstration at my son's daycare center. All the children were on stage. Just not my son. He was sitting in the audience with me,” she says. Another tear runs down her cheek, but now she stands tall behind her counter, her voice firm. “They didn’t even ask us if and how my son could take part,” she says. She has experiences like this all the time. Sometimes she has the feeling that people's willingness to be included is decreasing. In its election program, the AfD describes inclusion as a potential “burden” for students.

If Enrico Schult, the direct candidate in her constituency, has his way, the AfD program will be implemented just one legislative period later. On the evening of the election, he said confidently: "We will win the next election and then we will no longer need a coalition partner."

Some enemies of the AfD also share this forecast. “That would be absolute horror for the vast majority of people in this country,” says an anti-fascist from Rostock – and downs another shot.

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