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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Kate Connolly in Berlin

‘An insult to our name’: AfD urged to stop using Simson mopeds at events

Björn Höcke in a helmet getting on or off a Simson moped, surrounded by people
The AfD’s Thuringia leader, Björn Höcke, is often to be found riding the Simson during activities to promote the party. Photograph: Dpa Picture Alliance/Alamy Stock Photo/Alamy Live News.

The Jewish descendants of a German motorbike manufacturer that was forced by the Nazis to be relinquished have voiced their repulsion at the appropriation of the vehicle by far-right populists.

Members of the family, whose ancestors were forced to flee Germany in the 1930s, say they consider the use of the bike’s name by the anti-immigrant Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) as a “mockery of our history”.

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