Björn Höcke, the chair of the far-right Alternative for Germany party (AfD) in the eastern state of Thuringia, stands accused of intentionally deploying a slogan used by the Nazi party's paramilitary wing in a speech at a campaign rally.

His trial begins on April 18 at the Halle Regional Court. It will deal with Höcke's election campaign appearance on December 12, 2023 in the Thuringian city of Gera. At the time, the Waldhaus restaurant there was packed with AfD supporters.

Höcke took to the stage and told the audience he would have to appear in court because of an indictment from 2021. "Because I once closed an election campaign rally with a rhetorical triad: 'Everything for our homeland! Everything for Saxony-Anhalt! Everything for..." Höcke then encouraged his audience to finish the slogan. They cheered and shouted back "...Germany!" while Höcke stood on the stage laughing and nodding.

"Everything for Germany" (Alles für Deutschland) was the slogan of the Nazi Sturmabteilung (SA), or storm troopers.

The SA played a major role when Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party, the NSDAP, came to power in 1933. In this early phase, the storm troopers terrorized Germany, killing, torturing and intimidating........

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