The opposition far-right Alternative for Germany party is helping make anti-Semitism "presentable" again in Germany by challenging a longtime consensus about how to deal with its Nazi past, according to a senior German government official tasked with fighting anti-Semitism.
Felix Klein, who holds the newly created post of anti-Semitism commissioner, told online news site Watson.de on Thursday that Alternative for Germany, known by its German acronym AfD, tolerates its members calling for a new "culture of remembrance."
"I don't want to say the AfD is anti-Semitic per se, but it tolerates representatives who are demanding a new policy of remembrance," he said. "They initiated this discussion about drawing a line [under the Holocaust] and that is very dangerous because it helps make anti-Semitism presentable again."
Alternative for Germany had no immediate comment on Klein's comments. The party has denied being anti-Semitic or racist but has drawn sharp criticism for not sanctioning a key party figure after he called for a "180-degree turnaround" in the way Germany seeks to atone for Nazi crimes.
The party swept into the lower house of the German parliament for the first time in the September elections, tapping into widespread frustration about Chancellor Angela Merkel's 2015 decision to open the borders to over 1 million mostly Muslim migrants.
Klein's position was created by Merkel's conservatives and the center-left Social Democrats as part of their coalition pact, amid reports from Germany's small Jewish community about rising levels of prejudice and hatred.
Anti-Semitism is a highly sensitive issue in Germany, where the Nazi regime that ruled from 1933 to 1945 persecuted Jews and ultimately murdered 6 million European Jews in the Holocaust.
Klein said last month anti-Semitism is still rooted largely in extreme right-wing ideology and is not being driven only by Germany's growing Muslim population.
German schools have long taught about the Holocaust, but rights groups say the rise of Alternative for Germany and other far-right parties has frayed taboos against anti-Semitic utterances and other hate speech.
Klein has also called for a national database to record anti-Semitic incidents, including by Muslims, that are not included in crime statistics.
He told the website that he would raise the issue with the German Conference on Islam and encourage Muslim groups across Germany to take on the fight against anti-Semitism.
"This would not only send an important signal, but would allow Muslim groups to ask for solidarity when a mosque or a woman wearing a head covering are attacked," he said.
