"Hitler Was a Leftist Too," Far-Right German Party Leader Says; Historians: "No Basis"
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- 2026-09-22 20:04:23
- Updated
- 2026-09-22 20:04:23
Alice Weidel, co-leader of the AfD, said at a press conference on the 21st local time, "Adolf Hitler pursued entirely left-wing policies," adding, "He was a radical, extreme leftist."
The remarks came as politicians assessed the election results for the Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin, in which The Left became the largest party for the first time, winning 25.7% of the vote. Germany's The Left is a political party that partly carries on the legacy of the former ruling party of East Germany, the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED). Its party charter states that it is committed to antifascism and the peace movement.
However, Weidel provided no historical evidence that Adolf Hitler was left-wing.
Historians view such claims as historical revisionism aimed at deflecting criticism of neo-Nazi elements within the party. They say the Nazis never pursued traditional left-wing policies such as social justice and minority protection. Instead, they suppressed communists, left-wing parties and labor unions.
Many observers also point out that the formal party name, Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, was merely a means of winning over the working class.
The centrist camp also went on the offensive. Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who leads the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), criticized both The Left and the AfD, saying, "More than 40% of Berliners voted for forces that are destructive, question our parliamentary political system, and draw people in with radical, simplistic solutions."
Merz criticized The Left's housing socialization policy, saying it would cause Berlin to lose the confidence of foreign investors. The policy advocated by The Left calls for compensating major real-estate companies, expropriating their housing and transferring it to public ownership.
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