Written by Thomas Escritt
MAGDEBURG, Germany (Reuters) – A spontaneous memorial held by grieving families and locals in a church overlooking the Christmas market in Magdeburg on Saturday turned into something more politically charged.
The change of tone at the site of a car-ramming attack on Friday, which killed five people and injured more than 200, reflects political tensions in a country roiled by controversy over immigration and the growing popularity of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. Alternative für Deutschland (AfD).
The authorities arrested a Saudi man with a history of anti-Islamic speeches, but said the motives for the attack were not yet known.
At first, when people were laying flowers outside the church early in the morning, there were only expressions of sadness and grief.
Andrea Rees, 57, arrived with her daughter Julia, 34, and contemplated a narrow escape.
She said the only reason for this was that her daughter wanted them to continue walking around the market instead of stopping to eat, and they were not in the path of the car that entered the market.
“The terrible sounds, the voices of children screaming: ‘Mama, Papa, help me’, were running through my head now,” Reese said, with tears falling down her cheek.
Another young woman cried and bent down in sadness as an older couple embraced her.
Initially, the attack prompted comparisons on social media to the deadly attack by an Islamist-influenced migrant on a Berlin Christmas market in 2016.
It later emerged that the suspect, a psychiatrist who had lived in Germany for 18 years, had criticized Islam and expressed sympathy for the far right in his previous social media posts. This led to damage control by the far right.
Martin Sellner, an Austrian popular among Germany's far-right, posted on social media that the suspect's motives “seem complicated,” adding that the suspect “hates Islam, but hates Germans even more.”
As the day went on, politicians, including Chancellor Olaf Scholz, came to lay flowers at the spontaneous memorial.
By the time Tino Shruppala, co-leader of the AfD, the crowd was filled with young people who had responded from all over East Germany to calls from the party's youth wing on social media to attend the vigil.
The party, which is particularly strong in East Germany, came first or second in three regional elections this fall, and is hoping for more success in national elections in February.
Many of the gathered supporters wore symbols associated with neo-paganism and other Sufi movements associated with the far right.
One of the young men, who said he was from the youth wing of the Alternative for Germany party, was wearing an amulet depicting the hammer of the Norse god Thor.
“I am a believer in the ancient gods,” he said, declining to give his name.
Interior Minister Nancy Viser expressed concern that the far-right could exploit the attack, but said little could be done to prevent the apparently coordinated gatherings.
“We have freedom of assembly in this country,” she said while touring the scene of the attack. “We have to do everything possible to make sure the attack is not abused by either side.”
