“It is pathetic when a party — in which xenophobia, antisemitism, racism, homophobia, historical denialism and conspiracy theories are the basis for argument — can become such a strong social and political influence,” said a Jewish leader in Germany after anti-immigrant party Alternative for Germany (AfD) beat German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party and came in second behind the Social Democratic party (SPD) in the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern regional state elections.

According to Charlotte Knobloch, president of the Jewish Community of Munich and Upper Bavaria, AfD, along with other far-right parties, constituted a threat to Germany’s democratic foundations.

AfD took 21.9% of the vote by campaigning hard against the Chancellor’s policies on refugees.

The party, which was founded in 2013, as an anti-euro movement, has adopted an anti-Islam and anti-migrant discourse with the arrival in Germany of a million asylum-seekers in 2015. It has already had a series of electoral successes this year.

The recent rise in support for extreme-right parties across Europe is being attributed to the Syrian refugee crisis, escalating Islamic terrorism and dissatisfaction with political elites.

“Clearly many voters are not aware or play down the fact that the AfD do not clearly distance themselves from right-wing extremists,” said Josef Schuster, president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany.

"The voters don't realize that they're going to vote for a party that doesn't want to differentiate itself from the extreme right."

According to him, the party has grown considerably over the past year, and Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision to welcome masses of refugees "only presents slogans and no solution."