Elif Eralp and the Red Help: Black accusations against Red Elif

Elif Eralp, the possible next mayor of Berlin, was a member of the Rote Hilfe association for many years. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports this in its Wednesday edition. But the membership was no secret; it was on the homepage of the House of Representatives for years. There, MPs have to provide information about memberships in organizations. That's what Eralp did.

Rote Hilfe is the oldest and largest organization within the left-wing scene, with around 19,000 members: For more than 100 years, Rote Hilfe has been supporting left-wing prisoners, covering legal costs or providing publicity for their proceedings.

In the 1920s, Hans Litten was one of the best-known criminal defense lawyers of the Red Aid who campaigned against the emerging National Socialism. When Red Aid was banned in 1933, Litten was among the first to be arrested. He died in a concentration camp in 1938. Littenstrasse, where the Berlin regional court is located, has been named after him since 1951.

Today, Rote Hilfe provides, among other things, legal aid for members of East German Antifa groups. After the USA put the so-called Antifa Ost on its sanctions list, Rote Hilfe had its account with the GLS Bank terminated at the beginning of the year. After protests from numerous customers, the club and the bank agreed that he would be allowed to continue his account.

The association recently also expressed solidarity with the ex-RAF terrorist Daniela Klette and with the anti-fascist Maja T., who was imprisoned in Hungary.

Politicians are repeatedly accused of their existing or former membership in Red Aid. Then it is always stated that the club has been monitored by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution since 2012. But it is not banned or otherwise sanctioned.

In the most recent report by the Berlin Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the observation is justified by the “opposition of the organization and its decision-makers to the free democratic basic order”. He considers the organization to be “by far the largest left-wing extremist organization in the city.” At the same time, however, it is also emphasized that “not all members of the association themselves pursue anti-constitutional goals”.

According to the Left Party's state office, Eralp joined the association while studying law. Many left-wing law students do this. She wanted to support “that people who are committed to left-wing and social issues have legal support, even if they themselves do not have the necessary financial resources,” the FAZ quoted the statement as saying. Afterwards she was “a passive member for years”. Last year she left “because of partly different political views”.