Bavarian Deputy Prime Minister Hubert Aiwanger has apologized over an anti-Semitic leaflet from school days. His short statement made no mention of a possible dismissal. Aiwanger senses a campaign against himself that he “should personally be done with”.
The Free Voters party leader said in Munich on Thursday that he deeply regrets having hurt feelings by his behavior in relation to the pamphlet in question or other allegations against him from his youth.
Minimizing the Holocaust is denounced as a ‘sinful act of youth’.
The anti-Semitic circular, which the 51-year-old is said to have distributed as a schoolboy, mentions, among other things, a “free flight down the chimney of Auschwitz”, “a free shot in the neck” and a “lifelong stay in a mass grave”. After the allegations became known, his brother Helmut first reported as the author, after which Aiwanger made a questionable statement decrying the story as a “juvenile sin”.
Now the politician tried to play the victim role: Aiwanger continued that it was unacceptable that this misconduct was exploited in a political campaign against him and his party. “I feel like I need to be ready politically and personally.”
“Mein Kampf” in the schoolbag?
More allegations had recently been made against the head of the Free Voters during his school days. The following message appeared on Aiwanger’s Twitter account late on Wednesday evening: “It is getting more and more absurd. Another claims that I had Mein Kampf in my schoolbag. Who thinks up such nonsense!?” (see below). As a rule, the Free Voters boss writes all messages himself, but whether that was also the case this time was not clear at first.
The “Süddeutsche Zeitung” had previously quoted an unnamed former classmate of Aiwanger as often carrying Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” in his school bag. She can confirm this because she held the book in her own hands.
convene a special session
The pressure on Aiwanger had recently increased. CSU regional group leader Alexander Dobrindt had called for further clarification, as had CDU party leader Friedrich Merz. Both described the allegations as “a highly distasteful story”. Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder had previously handed his deputy a catalog of 25 questions on this subject for written answers.At the request of the SPD, the Greens and the FDP, a special session on the pamphlet affair was convened on 7 September in the Bavarian state parliament. The so-called interim committee should meet there on this subject.
The “Süddeutsche Zeitung” reported about the flyer with anti-Semitic content. The Free Voters had recently criticized current events as a “dirty campaign”. Aiwanger wrote on Twitter on Wednesday: “Dirty campaigns ultimately backfire.” Demands for clarification, including from Chancellor Olaf Scholz, are rejected by the Free Voters: the SPD politician does not even want to be able to remember things that were only a few years ago.
Elections are in a few weeks
A new state parliament will be elected in Bavaria on 8 October. The CSU has always indicated that it wants to continue the coalition with the Free Voters after the elections. All studies have shown that this will also be possible. The CSU has been governing the Free State together with the Free Voters since 2018. The consequences of the current crisis were initially completely unpredictable.
Source: Krone
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