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East Germany

An aerial view of the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine, showing damage from an explosion and fire in reactor four on April 26, 1986, that sent large amounts of radioactive material into the atmosphere. (AP/Volodymyr Repik, File)
April 26, 2026, 11:13 am
Secret Stasi files reveal extent of Soviet misinformation over Chernobyl nuclear disaster
East German secret police knew of 1986 disaster’s devastation, tried to send potentially contaminated produce to West Germany, documents show, as Gorbachev recommended misleading public
By Lauren Cassidy
An AfD election poster for the European elections reading 'Our country first' is fixed on a pole in Frankfurt, Germany, May 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst), File)
December 3, 2024, 4:35 pm
Far-right German AfD says it will replace radical youth wing ahead of snap elections
Party’s neo-Nazi-linked Junge Alternative youth organization, classified as extremist by intelligence agencies, is set to be replaced, but critics say move is ‘smoke and mirrors’
By AFP
Bjöern Höecke, top candidate of the far-right Alternative for Germany party, or AfD, speaks at an election campaign rally in Suhl, Germany, August 13, 2024. (AP Photo/ Markus Schreiber)
September 1, 2024, 11:48 pm
Far-right German AfD party set to win first state elections
Projections show Alternative for Germany party winning in Thuringia and coming in close second in Saxony, as immigration and German support of Ukraine dominate agenda
By Geir Moulson
The reconstructed Garrison Church in Potsdam, Germany (CC BY-SA 4.0 Raimond Spekking & Elke Wetzig/ wikimedia)
August 22, 2024, 5:27 pm
Germany opens reconstructed 18th-century church where Hitler cemented grip on power
‘This place challenges us’ to confront checkered past, says German president, amid protest outside inauguration of Potsdam’s Garrison Church, which communist East Germany destroyed
By Geir Moulson
File: People gather to protest against the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD party, and right-wing extremism in front of the parliament building in Berlin, Germany, January 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
March 18, 2024, 12:51 pm
Germany’s Nazi past comes back to haunt it, as far-right AfD surges in polls
Many believed that with education and laws, extreme nationalism would not return, but far-right party finds strong support among disillusioned in former communist east
By Kirsten Grieshaber
People attend a pro-Ukraine protest rally against Russian president Putin in Berlin, Germany, March 13, 2022 (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)
March 15, 2022, 11:33 am
Hitler, WWII loom large in Germany’s approach to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Historian says that Berlin’s focus on invoking responsibility for WWII may have prevented important self-criticism over ties with Putin
By Deborah Cole
One day after the election of Thuringia's State Premier, a woman holds a placard reading 'Shame on you' during a protest in front of the State Chancellery in Erfurt, eastern Germany, on February 6, 2020 (Jens Schlueter / AFP)
February 15, 2020, 8:04 am
Germans to hit the streets against deals with far right in eastern state
After AfD scandal in Thuringia, 10,000 expected to rally under the banner: ‘No pacts with fascists any time or anywhere!’
By Mathieu FOULKES
German Chancellor Angela Merkel gives a speech in Munich, Germany, May 24, 2019. (Christof Stache/AFP)
November 5, 2019, 5:50 pm
Merkel: Discontent doesn’t confer a ‘right to hatred’
Amid far-right surge in former East German states, chancellor slams AfD politicians who stir dissatisfaction by claiming situation hasn’t improved since communism
By AP
In this file photo taken on August 22, 2019 Jonas Rothe, founder and CEO of Timeride, a company offering virtual reality tours through a still-divided Berlin, poses next to Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin, Germany. (Tobias Schwarz/AFP)
October 26, 2019, 3:21 pm
30 years later, Berlin Wall comes back to life with virtual reality
German startup offering visitors and history buffs an ‘authentic’ and immersive Cold War-era tour of the divided capital
By Deborah Cole
Illustrative: Rabbi Rebecca Blady, center, performs the havdallah ceremony in 2017. (Courtesy Base BERLIN)
October 11, 2019, 6:40 pm
Synagogue shooting survivor says German Jewry can’t only be about anti-Semitism
US Rabbi Rebecca Blady and husband Rabbi Jeremy Borovitz arrived in Berlin in May to do Jewish outreach. After surviving near-massacre on Yom Kippur, their resolve isn’t weakened
By Yaakov Schwartz
Stephan Balliet (Screengrab)
October 11, 2019, 4:18 pm
German suspect in synagogue attack isolated loner, unknown in hometown
A ‘lost’ college dropout with few job prospects, Stephan Balliet made no contact with his neighbors or fellow village residents, spending his days on the computer
By David Courbet
An election campaign rally for Alternative for Germany, or AfD, for the Saxony state elections in Bautzen, Germany, August 15, 2019. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
September 1, 2019, 2:12 pm
Far-right surge expected in east German state elections
Euroskeptic, anti-immigration AfD’s gains in former Communist areas could destabilize Angela Merkel’s fragile coalition with Social Democrats
By Frank Zeller
Germans sing their national anthem at the handball European Championships in Krakow, Poland, January 31, 2016. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
May 11, 2019, 7:02 am
Row over German anthem erupts amid nationalism debate
Soul-searching and squabbles break out in Germany after politician calls for new national song; current hymn has been in use, in some form, since 1922
By Deborah Cole
Right-wing demonstrators light flares on August 27, 2018 in Chemnitz, eastern Germany, following the death of a 35-year-old German national, allegedly at the hands of two Muslim-world immigrants. (AFP Photo/Odd Andersen)
September 1, 2018, 8:36 am
Saxony’s long history with Germany’s far right
As a newspaper publishes a list of racist incidents in the state since reunification, activist laments the network of far-right groups, hooligan clubs and neo-Nazi music
By Isabelle Le Page
Riot Police confront right wing protesters on August 27, 2018 in Chemnitz, eastern Germany, following the death of a 35-year-old German national who died in hospital after a "dispute between several people of different nationalities", according to the police. (AFP PHOTO / dpa / Sebastian Willnow)
August 28, 2018, 9:49 am
Ex-communist East Germany a hotbed for racist hate crime
Frustration at mass refugee influx exacerbating far-right sentiment, sparking wave of xenophobic violence
By AFP
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