One of the lessons from the Nazi era is that “anti-constitutional parties must be prevented from abusing democracy to overthrow it,” said Jens-Christian Wagner, director of the Buchenwald Memorial Foundation and one of the campaign’s initiators, as quoted by the DPA press agency on Monday.

The campaign titled “In Defense of Human Dignity - Ban AfD Now” seeks to secure support from the majority of parliament members in the upcoming weeks. Protests against the AfD have also been scheduled, including one at the party’s national conference in Essen at the end of June.

The issue of banning the AfD has been a recurring topic in recent months. However, critics argue that the process would be lengthy and the outcome would be uncertain before the Federal Constitutional Court.

DPA points out that there are concerns with outlawing a party that has a sizable base of support among constituents.

Despite this, the campaign’s supporters insist that “banning AfD is not only possible but also politically necessary.” They assert that a ban would dismantle the party’s organizational structure, cut off its state funding, and delegitimize it in the public eye.

The campaign justification states that “in recent years, AfD has become a party dominated by far-right forces and that it propagates völkisch-racist views, undermines democracy, and attacks the rule of law.”