Krah, whose aide has been charged with spying for China, had to resign from the AfD’s leadership board and promised not to make any further campaign appearances following his comment on the SS, although he is still a candidate in the European poll.

The SS, or Schutzstaffel, was Adolf Hitler’s paramilitary organization in Nazi Germany. Originally established as his personal bodyguard, the SS expanded its role to become a key instrument of state repression and control.

The SS grew to hundreds of thousands and many military divisions, and was responsible for numerous atrocities during World War II, including the implementation of the Holocaust, where millions of Jews and other ethnic groups including Poles were systematically persecuted and murdered.

It also operated concentration camps and played a central role in enforcing Nazi racial policies.

In a highly unusual, last-ditch bid to avoid expulsion, the AfD delegation had asked the ID to exclude just Krah, blaming his personality, a letter seen by Reuters showed.

MEP Christine Anderson in the letter informing the party’s executive board of the request wrote: “We see this as the last [albeit desperate!] attempt to prevent the exclusion of the entire AfD delegation from the ID parliamentary group.”

AfD co-leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla said in a statement that they took note of the ID’s decision but were optimistic about the election.

“We are confident we will continue to have reliable partners at our side in the new legislative period,” they said.

It is the latest blow for AfD in a chaotic few months. Earlier this week, France’s Marine Le Pen abandoned the party, calling it too toxic a partner.

Far-right parties in the European assembly are currently split between the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), whose de facto leader is Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni, and the ID group, spearheaded by Le Pen’s Rassemblement National (RN).

AfD’s expulsion comes less than a month before the vital European Parliament elections with the polls suggesting that nationalist and eurosceptic parties are likely to win a record number of votes.

While it is still second or third in most national polls, support for the AfD has dipped by around eight points this year, hit by adverse court rulings, concerns about its links to China and Russia and revelations that senior party members had participated in talks about deporting non-ethnic Germans.