Left-wingers in saxony have accused the CDU in the free state of likening the GDR to national socialism.
"The comparison is off the mark on many levels. To put national socialism and the gdr on the same level is an exemplary trivialization of fascism and nazi crimes, including the holocaust," said party leader antje feiks in dresden.
Feiks was referring to photos that the sachsische union had published on its facebook account. A photo of the city of dresden, destroyed by bombs in february 1945, was combined with a picture of gorlitz from 1990 and accompanied by a saying: "socialism has only caused suffering. No matter … National or "real existing."
To justify this with the fact that the word socialism appears in the term "national socialism" leaves one speechless. Whoever says something like that probably also thinks that lemon butterflies fold lemons," explained feiks. Your party is campaigning for the state elections on 1 january. September for a modern and democratic socialism. "Our idea of democratic socialism differs from both unbridled capitalism and bureaucratic state socialism," said top candidate rico gebhardt.
The saxon union defended their approach. "The two pictures show where socialist experiments have led to. We’re not interested in a repeat performance," party and government leader michael kretschmer told the german press agency in dresden. After 1990, the social market economy, democracy and the rule of law had created the opportunity for saxony to achieve the prosperity it enjoys today.
"The left-wing party advertises in saxony on posters for the return to socialism. We can’t let that stand," said the general secretary of the saxon CDU, alexander dierks. Socialism deprives people of their individual freedoms and is hostile to achievement: "it is a dangerous misconception that there could be a transformed, democratic socialism."