Sahra Wagenknecht is one of Germany’s most prominent political figures. She was originally a member of the communist party (Socialist Unity Party of Germany, SED) which, after the collapse of East Germany, changed its name several times (PDS, then Die Linke). In January, she created her own party, the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), which quickly obtained 6.2% of the vote in the European elections, overtaking the liberal FDP party, a coalition partner in the current federal government. Projections suggest that BSW could exceed 10% in regional elections in eastern Germany this fall. The CDU, the party of former Chancellor Angela Merkel, is currently considering the possibility of considering the Sahra Wagenknecht formation as a potential coalition partner.
What makes the BSW so different from other German political parties? Sahra Wagenknecht combines fierce criticism of left-wing migration policy and “identity politics” with socialist economic policy – much like PiS in Poland. In terms of foreign policy, Wagenknecht is against supporting Ukraine. When Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently addressed the Bundestag, BSW representatives clearly stayed away from his speech. Wagenknecht’s critics have also accused her of downplaying the Putin threat and displaying anti-American sentiments. Even if she condemns the Russian war, she mainly places the responsibility for the conflict in Ukraine on NATO and the United States.
“The Communist”
A biography of Sahra Wagenknecht has just been published in Germany under the title Die Kommunistin (“The Communist”). The most important sentence in Klaus-Rüdiger Mai’s book is: “Wagenknecht is a master at delivering her message in a way that resonates with her audience, allowing her to focus solely on that he wants to hear and ignore the rest. This unique skill has propelled her into the limelight, extending her influence far beyond the confines of the left-wing camp. This is one of the secrets of its success. She appeals not only to traditional left-wing voters, but also to right-wing voters who share her critical opinions regarding migration policy and “political correctness”. It represents a synthesis of nationalism and socialism.
But who is this woman? She is from the German Democratic Republic (GDR). As a teenager, she was able to criticize the system, not because she preferred democracy and the market economy, but rather because she felt that the GDR did not adhere strictly enough to communist principles. His idol was Walter Ulbricht, a Stalin-appointed leader who infamously suppressed a workers’ uprising in the GDR with the help of Russian tanks in 1953. A portrait of Ulbricht adorned his bedroom, symbolizing his unwavering loyalty to his chief.
For Wagenknecht, the collapse of the GDR was a traumatic experience. What many Germans consider one of the happiest moments in our country’s history represented for her “the most difficult period” of her life, as she later confessed. In the early summer of 1989, as more and more people abandoned the GDR and its ruling party, she decided to join the Communist Party.
Subsequently, she immersed herself in the works of Marx and Lenin, forming a historical perspective that the Soviet Union was on the right trajectory under the leadership of Lenin and Stalin. The betrayal of the principles of communism, according to Wagenknecht, began with the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, at which Khrushchev began to settle scores with Stalin. In his eyes, Stalin faithfully defended Lenin’s policies: “It is undeniable that Stalin’s policy, in its orientation, its objectives and probably even its methodology, can be considered as a principled continuation of that of Lenin.”
Rosa Luxemburg reincarnated
When the SED renamed itself PDS, Wagenknecht established herself as a controversial figure within the party. Her colleagues, including the reformer André Brie, reproached her: “I don’t know how far S. Wagenknecht will go… In her quest for the liberation of humanity, she does not take into account people’s lives who have different opinions, or at least it considers the destruction of dissenting voices as a necessary means to achieve its ends.
Wagenknecht became the most prominent figure on the “communist platform” within the PDS and was in constant conflict with the party leadership. She increasingly saw herself as following in the footsteps of Rosa Luxemburg, who fought against the “betrayal” of true Marxist ideals, left the SPD and founded the German Communist Party in 1919. Wagenknecht so emulated her model in terms of habits, hairstyle and clothing that the party leader at the time, Lothar Bisky, mischievously pointed out to her that if she had started limping, she could have been Rosa Luxemburg reincarnated.
Deploring the fall of the GDR, she considers the Wend, the period of change that followed the fall of the Berlin Wall, as a counter-revolution. “Five years ago, a country disappeared when there was at least an attempt to build a society that was not driven by profit. Today we see the dominance of capitalism again. For me , this is a clear step back compared to the FRG, the GDR was the most peaceful, the most social, the most humane Germany in all phases of its development, despite the specific criticisms that it made. “we can formulate against him” she then explains.
Pro-Chavez and Castro
Today, Sahra Wagenknecht stopped praising Stalin, but expressed admiration for left-wing dictators. It was Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez who became his new role model. In 2004, she published the book Alo Presidente: Hugo Chavez and Venezuelas Zukunft (“Alo Presidente: Hugo Chavez and the future of Venezuela”). Nearly a decade later, in 2013, she eulogized Chavez upon his death, writing that he had been “a great president who dedicated his entire life to the fight for justice and dignity”. According to her, Chavez has proven that a “different economic model is possible” and affirmed that “his re-elections (…) demonstrate how popular such a policy can be.” She insisted that her project “be preserved and developed beyond her death. The Bolivarian revolution must be defended.” She was then no longer 24, but 44.
In 2016, after the death of communist dictator Fidel Castro, Sahra Wagenknecht and party chairman Dietmar Bartsch published an article titled “He Represented a Better World.” Both approvingly quoted Danielle Mitterrand, the former French president’s wife, who said of Castro: “They are making a devil out of this man. Yet he is a democrat through and through. He loved his people and his people love him.” Remember that the “democrat” Castro established a one-party system and tortured dissidents. Is this really Wagenknecht’s idea of democracy?
Champion of self-promotion
At the same time, she has often hit the mark in recent years when tackling topics like immigration and “identity politics,” earning her support from people who aren’t on the left . Today, does Sahra Wagenknecht still consider herself a communist or a Marxist? Surprisingly, journalists rarely ask him this question. When asked about this in 2015, she replied: “No, at least not in the sense that a communist is someone who advocates the return of the GDR or a centrally planned economy.” This example shows that she always avoids making clear statements, starting by saying “no”, but immediately qualifying her words with “at least not in the sense that…”.
Wagenknecht’s journey represents a catalog of errors – from his glorification of Stalin to his admiration of Hugo Chavez to his misguided and appallingly naive judgment of Vladimir Putin. Although she sometimes demonstrates common sense on subjects like immigration and identity drifts on the left, she has a habit of being wrong on essential questions.
Sahra Wagenknecht is a champion of self-promotion who has always known, better than any other German politician, how to transform herself into an instantly recognizable brand. However, it would not have been so successful without having been constantly featured by Germany’s main public television channels ARD and ZDF over the past decades. It’s safe to say that without the airtime she gets every week, neither Wagenknecht nor her party, the BSW, would be anywhere close to being where they are today.
*German historian, Rainer Zitelman is notably the author ofHitlers National Socialism, The Power of Capitalism and the recent How Nations Escape Poverty.
.