Holger Apfel

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Holger Apfel (born December 29, 1970 in Hildesheim) is the leader of the far-right National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD) in Saxony and is a current member of the Saxon Landtag. Apfel has a long history of activism with the NPD, starting in the 1980s when he was active in the NPD's youth division. On September 19, 2004 Apfel led the NPD in Saxony to its biggest electoral success, winning 9.2% of the popular vote and twelve seats in the Landtag. He called the result "A great day for all Germans who still want to be Germans". Since entering the Landtag, Apfel and his NPD faction have been the cause of vocal opposition and controversy.

Shortly before the anniversary of the World War II Dresden bombing in 2005, Apfel made international headlines by theatrically framing it as morally equivalent to the Holocaust. The NPD asserted that it was upset that a moment of silence was being held for the liberation of Auschwitz yet none was being given for the bombing of Dresden (the anniversary of both events falling relatively close to each other). Apfel and the NPD fraction walked out during the moment of silence for Auschwitz, an act that received widespread condemnation in Germany.

[edit] External links

• Outlaw History Newsletter #36, at Holocaust History Archive, documenting Apfel's "publicity stunt". The Outlaw History Newsletter is written from a right-extremist perspective.