Ulrich Siegmund: AfD leader's radical plans for deportations, disabled students, and Nazi-era lessons

Ulrich Siegmund, the 35-year-old leader of the far-right AfD in Saxony-Anhalt, has emerged as a controversial figure with proposals including forced mass deportations, separate classes for disabled students, and softening the condemnation of the Nazi era in school curricula. Siegmund, a former perfume salesman who rose to prominence during the Covid pandemic through TikTok videos against restrictions, has employed four former members of a banned neo-Nazi youth movement as advisors. His platform, blending Trump-style ideals with conspiracy theories, has led Der Spiegel to call him "the most dangerous man in Germany," and he has refused to condemn supporters chanting his name like "Sieg Heil." The AfD has received backing from American conservatives, including Elon Musk and J.D. Vance, while German media have reported Russian disinformation campaigns favoring the party. Siegmund has proposed restoring trade ties with Moscow and increasing Russian language teaching in schools, though the federal AfD has distanced itself from his refusal to call the Holocaust the worst crime in human history.