BERLIN -- A descendant of an executed opponent of the Nazis attempted to remove a wreath placed by the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party during a memorial event in Berlin on Monday. The ceremony marked the 82nd anniversary of the failed July 20, 1944, plot to assassinate Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler.
Tobias Korenke, a great-nephew of Protestant pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, tried to take the wreath from the AfD parliamentary group at the memorial site where the main plotters were executed. Security officers intervened, and the wreath was damaged during the confrontation, according to German news agency dpa.
"Many descendants, myself included, feel really great anger when we see AfD laying wreaths here," Korenke stated. "We will not accept this."
The AfD, which finished second in Germany's national election last year and is currently the largest opposition party, has rejected accusations of extremism. The party aims to secure its first state governor in elections in three regions this September.
The AfD's parliamentary group confirmed that it had provided a wreath for the memorial. It was unclear if any party members were present at the event. AfD lawmaker Götz Frömming noted that the party is invited to such official events as one of the parties represented in the German parliament.
Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg led the 1944 plot, attempting to kill Hitler with a briefcase bomb at the dictator's headquarters in East Prussia. Hitler survived the blast after the briefcase was moved next to a table leg, deflecting the force of the explosion. The plot unraveled when news spread of Hitler's survival, and von Stauffenberg and his co-conspirators were executed hours later. Bonhoeffer, who had ties to the plotters, was executed in 1945.
Karl von Stauffenberg, a grandson of Claus von Stauffenberg, told Welt television that the AfD was attempting to exploit his grandfather's memory. However, he also expressed that the party should not be prevented from laying a wreath, stating, "We are democrats ... we must see that we also allow people who think differently to speak."
The memorial event proceeded as scheduled, including a speech by Education Minister Karin Prien.