Nicole hochst does not want to understand the excitement. Her question about disabled people in germany is about factual knowledge, in order to recognize the need for action, and also about whether better equipment might be necessary, the afd member of parliament assures trustingly on her facebook page.
"But in the minds of the leftist elites, the buzzword "euthanasia" pops up reflexively in connection with the handicapped."And then it is pointed out in the entry that hochst himself has a disabled son.
For the social associations in germany, the afd’s argumentation can hardly be surpassed in its perfidy. In an unprecedented move, 18 organizations have publicly opposed the question by hochst and other afd members of parliament linking disability, incest and migration. "We call on the people to be vigilant and to stand resolutely against this intolerable hostility to humanity and life," reads an advertisement in the "frankfurter allgemeine sunday newspaper.
The small question already dates from 23. Marz, it is signed by the afd faction leaders alexander gauland and alice weidel. In it, the afd members of parliament demanded information from the federal government on how the number of disabled people in germany had developed since 2012, and in particular "through marriage within the family". They then asked how many of these people had a migration background.
The linking of disability with incest and immigration has triggered widespread uproar. A line has now been crossed for the social associations. "It was clear to everyone: this is the end!", said ulrich schneider, chief executive officer of the paritatat gesamtverband, to the "kolner stadt-anzeiger". Until now, the strategy of restraint had been followed. "We were very careful and said: any provocation by the afd that you respond to makes them stronger. But we have found that if you do not react, it also becomes stronger."
The newspaper ad is meant to be a warning call. Under the heading "it concerns us all: vigilant for humanity," it says: "the afd faction ostensibly inquires about the number of disabled people in germany, but in doing so maliciously suggests a perverse connection between inbreeding, disabled children and migrants."
The afd’s inquiry is thus "reminiscent of the darkest times in german history, when people with disabilities were deprived of their right to life and hundreds of thousands of them became victims of national socialism". Among the signatories are also numerous organizations for the disabled. "We’ve never gotten such a rough bunch together before," says schneider.
The federal government has already answered the afd member’s question. "Data on the marital status of the parents of children with disabilities are not collected in the statistics on the severely disabled," the federal ministry of the interior nuchtern explains. More than 94 percent of severely disabled people are german, they said.