She was interested in the left, among other things, because of the issue of anti-sexism and assumed that the party was a "safe space," says a young woman whose story caused the left to falter.

Because in their case, the party turned out to be the opposite of a safe space.

After a panel discussion, an influential party member of the Hessian state association, who was 24 years her senior, wrote to her.

Some time later, at a party event, it was getting late and the question arose as to where she could spend the night.

Someone suggested: with the man.

She was 17 at the time, he was 41. Many in the party would have known that, says the young woman of the FAZ. "They just watched for two years."

Julian Staib

Political correspondent for Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland based in Wiesbaden.

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Markus Wehner

Political correspondent in Berlin.

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According to "Spiegel", the two had an affair, the man is said to have filmed her having sex against her will and got on her balcony at night against her will.

According to the "Spiegel" there are allegations against other members of the left, and there are therefore photos, emails, affidavits of those affected, which provide evidence of alleged border crossings, abuse of power and a toxic macho culture.

Ironically, in the left, which actually describes itself as “feminist”.

Since then, the already ailing party has gripped a tremor that some say could crush the left.

According to “Solid”, there should be 60 cases

Internally, there have been heated arguments over the past few days about the correct way to deal with the allegations, especially between the party youth "Solid" and the established comrades.

According to "Solid", there are now around 60 cases of sexual assault, the allegations range from sexist slogans to rape, almost all state associations and levels of the party are affected.

Ever since the scandal broke, older male party members have been publicly accused of encroachment, there have been lawsuits for defamation, demands for resignation, threats of expulsion from the party, and there are those who say these are all just unproven rumors.

Apparently, the latter was also claimed in Wiesbaden, the starting point for the tremor.

According to “Spiegel”, the perpetrators were hardly stopped in the local district association of the left.

The man with whom the person concerned is said to have had an affair is also a member there.

It is about G., a speaker of the parliamentary group in the state parliament.

A very confident, technically adept employee who ran for Die Linke for the Bundestag in 2017.

G. denied the allegations against the mirror.

He initially left a request for a statement from the FAZ on the allegations unanswered.

G. was released by the group on Tuesday, and the group has since deleted his profile from the website.

There is talk of the "War of the Roses".

But G. was apparently mated for a long time.

At the end of 2021, several young women made allegations public on social networks, including the person allegedly affected in the case of G. The party only made offers to talk late and G. of all people was initially involved in dealing with the allegations.

This shows an internal document of the Wiesbaden district association, from which the "Spiegel" quotes and which is available to the FAZ.

It says: G. said that "accusations must be specifically rejected".

The national association also played down the problem apparently.

An e-mail from a representative of the state board says: The allegations are based “mainly on rumours, word of mouth and vague statements”, and there is talk of a “war of the roses”.