How far-Right beat ban to woo new generation

AS THEY pass bowls of sauerkraut and crispy potatoes across the dinner table, the Storch family tend to avoid politics.

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Holding back thoughts and feelings comes a little easier for those living on the edge of the Baltic Sea in East Germany. Many lived through the Communist era when there was a constant fear of being spied on by the Stasi.

But the current silence on politics is not because people are scared about who is listening, it is because they are worried about what they might say to each other.

The Storch family are divided.

Some are keen supporters of the farRight AfD (Alternative für Deutschland) while others are vehemently opposed.

"I know I can't talk about it with my family," daughter Franziska tells me.

"They don't bring it up because they know how I feel. I work with migrants and I've got a sister living abroad." Franziska is concerned the AfD is appealing to both the older generation and young people at the local school, who she discovered voted 70% for the far-Right party at a mock election.