German bank cancels Right-wing politician after election victory

Germany’s second-largest bank abruptly canceled the account of a Right-wing politician following his election victory.

German government targets populist party

Sascha Schlösse, a member of the populist party Alternative for Germany (AfD), was elected to Thuringia State Parliament last week by his constituency in Erfurt. The win was one of several that AfD celebrated as the party claimed a historic triumph in the state of Thuringia. 

AfD, which has gained wild popularity across Germany, continues to be targeted by the government and its allies. A media-wide smear campaign backed by the country’s ruling Social Democratic Party (SDP) has painted AfD politicians as Nazi sympathizers. As a result, party members have been beaten, harassed, censored, surveilled, and jailed.

Major bank shuts down AfD politician after election

Schlösse appears to be the latest victim after receiving a letter from Deutsche Kreditbank Aktiengesellschaft (DKB) on Tuesday notifying him that his account and credit cards will be canceled on November 30th.

“DKB took the opportunity to congratulate me on my election as a member of the state parliament for the AfD and closed all my accounts,” Schlösse posted to X above a copy of the DKB letter.

The letter contained no reason for the account termination, and DKB refused to tell Apollo News why it decided to close the account. 

DKB has publicly opposed AfD, even posting earlier this year the hashtag “#neveragainisnow.” The phrase is a Holocaust reference that was used to suggest the AfD must be stopped now before it ushers in the Fourth Reich. DKB added that it is resisting the AfD by pledging itself to “democracy, the rule of law, diversity and tolerance.”

AfD strongly opposed Germany’s forced experimental injections during the pandemic. Last year, an AfD politician came to the aid of an elderly Holocaust survivor who a German court ordered to be forcibly injected with the COVID-19 vaccine.

Banned from banks, stripped of gun rights

DKB would not be the first financial institution to close an account for being affiliated with AfD. In July, an organization called Omas Gegen Rechts, or Grandmothers Against the Right, claimed victory after successfully pressuring the banking chain Berliner Volksbank to cut ties with the populist party. The group reportedly had amassed over 33,000 signatures for a petition urging Berliner Volksbank to drop AfD over “Nazism.” 

That week, a German court ruled that AfD officials are banned from owning guns. According to German media, the judges based their ruling on the fact that the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, has officially declared AfD a “‘suspected’ threat to democracy.”

“We see a considerable number of protagonists in this party that spread hate against all types of minorities here in Germany,” said BfV President Thomas Haldenwang.

The German government has called for AfD to be banned from politics and has obtained court approval to place the party’s members under surveillance due to “racism.”

Beaten and threatened

Last year, AfD candidate Andreas Jurca and his colleague were brutally beaten in an apparently coordinated attack during a campaign event. Jurca was approached by a man who asked him to confirm that he was “Andreas Jurca from the posters.” When Jurca affirmed, the man shook his hand while an accomplice began beating the politician. Someone yelled “damn Nazi” and Jurca was knocked unconscious. He was hospitalized with severe bruises, a broken ankle, and several other injuries. His colleague suffered minor injuries and a torn shirt.

Weeks after that, AfD Co-Chair Alice Weidel and her family went into hiding due to credible security threats. She did not make a scheduled campaign appearance.

A day later, AfD’s other co-chair, Tino Chrupalla, was rushed to intensive care just before he was scheduled to speak after suffering what an AfD spokesman said was a “violent incident” that involved a “puncture wound.” According to reporter Eva Vlaardingerbroek, Chrupalla was the victim of an assassination attempt with a syringe.

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