Saxony-Anhalt Greens in Neo-Nazi Row
- A 1995 antifascist bulletin names David Seidlitz, husband of the Greens' Saxony-Anhalt lead candidate Susan Sziborra-Seidlitz, as a member of a neo-Nazi-linked group in the
- Sziborra-Seidlitz confirmed her husband's far-right past during a 2022 state parliament debate but denied he was ever a cadre or leading figure, calling him a 'clean-cut democrat'
- David Seidlitz now works full-time as the Greens' regional executive director for several district associations, and the party has yet to explain why his past was not addressed in
One week before the Saxony-Anhalt state parliament election, the Green Party's lead candidate Susan Sziborra-Seidlitz finds herself defending her husband's reported past links to neo-Nazi circles — an awkward development for a party that has made opposition to right-wing extremism the centrepiece of its campaign.
A 1995 publication at the centre of the claims
The controversy stems from a 1995 edition of the Antifaschistisches Infoblatt, an antifascist bulletin, which lists David Seidlitz (50) as a member of an 'Unabhängiger Arbeitskreis' — an independent working group operating in the Quedlinburg area — that was at the time associated with the neo-Nazi milieu. The entry names him directly and includes a photograph said to identify him. The allegations were first circulated in their current form by the online outlet Tichys Einblick.
Sziborra-Seidlitz confirmed past, rejected cadre claim
The issue is not entirely new. In May 2022, the AfD raised it in the Saxony-Anhalt state parliament. Sziborra-Seidlitz confirmed at that point that her husband had a far-right past, but firmly rejected the characterisation that he had been a cadre or leading functionary within the scene. Standing publicly by her husband, she described him as a 'lupenreiner Demokrat' — a clean-cut democrat — and said he was 'absolutely without any doubt an antifascist'. David Seidlitz currently works full-time for the Greens and is listed on the party's state association website as regional executive director for several district associations.
An uncomfortable collision with campaign messaging
The timing is politically damaging. Sziborra-Seidlitz has used recent campaign appearances, including a television debate, to raise what she describes as the far-right orientation of AfD candidate Siegmund. The party has also publicised on social media its refusal to engage with interviewers from the far-right Compact magazine. The renewed attention to her husband's past now compels the Greens to account for why the neo-Nazi history of a current party official had not previously featured in their public narrative. The extent of Seidlitz's actual involvement in 1995 remains unresolved, and no further comment from either Sziborra-Seidlitz or her husband has been reported at the time of publication. For context on the party's recent activity in the state, see Habeck rallies Greens in Saxony-Anhalt.