Relative of Hitler opponent tries to remove far-right party’s wreath at memorial

A relative of an executed opponent of the Nazis tried to remove a wreath from the far-right Alternative for Germany party at an event in Berlin marking the 82nd anniversary of a failed attempt to kill Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler.

Tobias Korenke, a great-nephew of Protestant pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, attempted to remove the wreath from the parliamentary group of Alternative for Germany, or AfD, at Monday’s event at the site where the main plotters were executed, German news agency dpa reported.

Security officers intervened, and the wreath was damaged in the scuffle.

Mr Korenke said: “Many descendants, myself included, feel really great anger when we see AfD laying wreaths here. We will not accept this.”

AfD finished second in last year’s German national election and is now the biggest opposition party.

It hopes to secure its first state governor when three regions vote in September. The party rejects accusations of extremism.

AfD’s parliamentary group confirmed that it had provided a wreath for the memorial event, but it was not clear whether any of its members were present, dpa reported.

AfD lawmaker Gotz Fromming said the party was invited to such official events as one of the those represented in the German parliament.

Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg tried to kill Hitler with a briefcase bomb on July 20, 1944, during a meeting at the dictator’s headquarters in what was then the German region of East Prussia.

Hitler escaped the full force of the blast when someone moved the briefcase next to a table leg, deflecting much of the explosive force.

The plot crumbled when news spread that Hitler had survived.

Von Stauffenberg and his fellow plotters were executed within hours. Bonhoeffer, who was associated with the plotters, was executed in 1945.

Tuesday’s memorial event went ahead as planned with a speech by education minister Karin Prien.

A grandson of Stauffenberg, Karl von Stauffenberg, told Welt television that AfD was trying to exploit his grandfather’s memory, but the party should not be prevented from laying a wreath.

“We are democrats … we must see that we also allow people who think differently to speak,” he said.