Demonstrators gather to protest against the Alternative for Germany party, which is this weekend. Photo by Christoph Rutenolk/EPA
July 4 (UPI) -- Thousands of protesters on Saturday blocked roads in Erfurt, Germany, in an effort to prevent members of the far right Alternative fur Deutschland party from meeting.
The gathering of the party's delegates to choose new leaders garnered the large protest at least partially because of the date of the conference, which coincides with the date that Adolf Hitler introduced the Hitler Youth, as well as the Hitler salute, The Guardian reported.
The AfD, which finished with roughly 20% of the vote in the most recent German federal election, has been regarded by many in Germany to be too extremist, with Politico reporting that other European far-right parties -- including France's National Rally -- have cut ties with it.
"Who's making headlines today? WE ARE," the anti-AfD group Widersetzen, which organized the protests, said in a post on Instagram.
