(Alexander Prautzsch/dpa via AP) (Associated Press)BERLIN — The co-leader of the far-right nationalist Alternative for Germany party on Saturday dismissed the Nazi era as a “speck of bird poop” in German history, drawing swift condemnation from mainstream politicians and outrage on social media. Alexander Gauland said Germans must take responsibility for 12 years of rule by Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party, but argued that it’s only a small part of Germany’s history. “Hitler and the Nazis are just a speck of bird poop in more than 1,000 years of successful German history,” he said to applause. The party, known by its German acronym AfD, became the third largest in Germany’s parliament after the 2017 election. Hitler and his party ruled Germany from 1933-1945, in later years engineering the genocide of Jews in Europe.

Source: Washington Post June 02, 2018 14:35 UTC