The victory of a far-right German party has left some fearful for the future. Others fear a return to the past

BERLIN (AP) — Nicki Kämpf watched her daughter romping through the sand on a Berlin playground and wondered if she and her wife should move west with their 1 1/2-year-old child after the Alternative for Germany became the first right-wing extremist party to win a state election in post-war Germany.

Kämpf, 29, and her wife discussed a replacement plan for Sunday Election results came inThey fear that a gay couple and their child may no longer be safe in the future if parties like the Alternative for Germany (AfD) gain power in the formerly communist and less prosperous eastern states.

Although they live in the liberal city of Berlin, Kämpf fears that the power of the far-right could increase. She is particularly worried because the paperwork for her daughter's official adoption is still pending – and that could take a year or more.

“I don't think I could adopt them if they were in power,” Kämpf told the Associated Press on Monday. “I don't want to raise them in a hostile environment.”

The couple have discussed a possible move west to Cologne – “the people there are really open-minded” – but Kämpf is hesitant to take her daughter far away from the toddler’s 91-year-old great-great-grandmother and other relatives in Thuringia and neighboring Saxony.

AfD wins state election in Thuringia on Sunday under one of its most right-wing extremist figures, Björn HöckeIn Saxony, the party finished just behind the conservative CDU, which leads the nationwide opposition.

Deep dissatisfaction with a government notorious for power struggles, inflation and a weak economy, Mood against immigration and scepticism towards German Military aid for Ukraine are among the factors that have contributed to the support of populist parties. A new party The party, founded by a prominent leftist, was the second big winner on Sunday – and will likely be needed to form state governments, as no one is willing to govern with the AfD.

The AfD is strongest in the East, and the domestic intelligence The party associations in Saxony and Thuringia are under official observation as “proven right-wing extremist” groups. Höcke was convicted the deliberate use of a Nazi slogan at political events, but is appealing.

When an ARD interviewer alluded to the assessment of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution on Sunday, Höcke reacted angrily: “Please stop stigmatizing me. We are the No. 1 party in Thuringia. You don't want a third of the voters in Thuringia to be right-wing extremists.”

Voters went to the polls to mark the 85th anniversary of Nazi Germany’s invasion of Poland at the beginning of the Second World War. Some left-wing extremist demonstrators demonstrated against the AfD in Hamburg, Dresden and Leipzig.

Lukas Meister said his sons, ages 6 and 3, are too young to understand elections. But as the 3-year-old played with sand toys on Monday, the 38-year-old father thought about how his oldest child will have to learn about it one day.

“We don't talk much about politics yet. He's more into 'Paw Patrol,'” Meister said. “It's hard to explain. How come people are so proud to vote for a party that is so bad for everyone?”

Older Germans who lived through the Nazi reign of terror are frightened. Many believed their country had developed an immunity to nationalism and claims of racial superiority after being confronted with the Nazi reign of terror. Horrors of his past through education and laws to prohibit persecution.

But Holocaust survivor Charlotte KnoblochPresident of the Israelite Community of Munich and Upper Bavaria, warned against dismissing the AfD’s successes as an exception.

“Nobody should now talk about 'protest' or look for other excuses,” Knobloch said in a statement. “The numerous voters made their decision consciously, and many wanted to blame the extremists on the fringes for it.”

Knobloch was six years old when she saw the synagogues in Munich burning and watched helplessly as two Nazi officers led away a beloved friend of her father. On November 9, 1938, during Kristallnacht, the Nazis terrorized Jews throughout Germany and Austria.

Gudrun Pfeifer and Ursula Klute, two pensioners from the northwestern city of Osnabrück who are visiting Berlin this week, said Sunday's vote also brought back grim memories of their early childhoods during and after World War II.

“I know where this can all lead,” said 83-year-old Pfeifer on Monday, her voice breaking as she recalled how her family was separated in the last months of the war and afterwards. She was stuck in Berlin for more than a year.

“The city was in ruins, we were all starving. I was very sick – my sister thought I was going to die,” Pfeifer added.

Thorsten Faas, a political scientist at the Free University of Berlin, described the AfD's popularity among younger voters as “very worrying.” In Thuringia, 38 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds voted for the far-right party – compared to 33 percent overall, according to the ARD Tagesschau election analysis.

“These first voting experiences are very formative and one can assume that they will also influence future voting decisions of this generation,” said Faas.

Klute, 78, also said she was dismayed at the AfD’s success among the younger population.

“People always forget the lessons of history,” she said.

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Kerstin Sopke contributed to the reporting.