BERLIN (AP) – A leading member of Alternative for Germany, the nationalist party whose recent election successes have shaken the country’s political system, faced fierce criticism Monday after calling for a racially charged term once favored by the Nazis to be rehabilitated.
Party co-chairwoman Frauke Petry said in an interview published Sunday that words such as “voelkisch” should no longer be taboo. Frequently used by the Nazis – their party newspaper was called Voelkischer Beobachter – the term refers to people who belong to a particular race. It derives from “Volk,” the German for “people.”
“We should finally regain a relaxed, not uncritical, but normal way of dealing with our nation and terms such as ‘Volk’ and words that are derived from it,” Petry told weekly newspaper Welt am Sonntag.
Asked whether she would count “voelkisch” among the words that should experience a renewal, Petry said she doesn’t use the term herself but dislikes that it is only used negatively.
“Let’s work on giving the term a positive connotation,” she said.