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Simmel branch in Dresden: “I also don’t agree with our current government and hope for new elections.”

Photo: Sven Ellger / IMAGO

The case made headlines: Edeka dealer Peter Simmel had positioned himself against right-wing extremism on advertising brochures with the slogan “For democracy – against Nazis”. Then he distanced himself from the action again. He apologized via Facebook - with a seemingly strange explanation: He was sorry "that my term 'Nazis' appealed to people who do not agree with our current government."

In response to a SPIEGEL query, Simmel now reports massive right-wing extremist hostility. After the democracy campaign, there were a number of threats and insults against him and his team, he says. He quotes some reactions: “When we are in power, we will not forget you”; “Don’t buy from Simmel”; "A yellow star"; “Dirty Socialist”; “Have a good time, you parasites.”

The dealer continues that he still stands by his statement “For democracy – against Nazis.” However, he sees “Nazis” as “serious criminals” of the Hitler regime and people who “wish for a dictatorship like under Hitler’s time.” Simmel had previously explained that the slogan also appealed to people who simply disagreed with the government. However, why someone would identify with the word Nazi without considering themselves one remained an open question.

Simmel apparently wants to stick to the decision to apologize for the campaign. He expressed understanding for some of his critics. He wrote to SPIEGEL that he "learned that many people in our country feel left behind, harassed and unappreciated by politics, and therefore no longer perceive or value democracy."

What follows is a small all-round attack on politics. “It stinks to people that we have too many rules and bureaucracy imposed on us, that our state apparatus is constantly growing, but that services are becoming fewer and costs are rising, that we have too much immigration of people who are not involved in the success of our country,” says Simmel . He doesn't write why criticism of an anti-Nazi slogan should be understandable.

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