Man attempts to remove AfD wreath at Berlin memorial for 1944 Hitler plot

A descendant of an executed opponent of the Nazis attempted to remove a wreath placed by the Alternative for Germany parliamentary group at a memorial event in Berlin on Monday. The event marked the 82nd anniversary of the July 20, 1944, plot to kill Adolf Hitler.

Tobias Korenke, a great-nephew of Protestant pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer, tried to take the wreath from the site where the main plotters were executed. Security officers intervened and the wreath was damaged during the scuffle, German news agency dpa reported.

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Claus von Stauffenberg placed a briefcase bomb at Hitler's headquarters on July 20, 1944. Hitler survived when the case was moved next to a table leg, deflecting much of the blast. The plot failed after news spread that Hitler had survived. Von Stauffenberg and other plotters were executed within hours. Bonhoeffer, who was associated with the plotters, was executed in 1945.

response and upcoming elections Korenke said many descendants feel anger when they see the AfD laying wreaths at the site. AfD finished second in last year's German national election and is now the largest opposition party. The party hopes to win its first state governorship in three regional votes scheduled for September.

AfD's parliamentary group confirmed it provided a wreath for the event. AfD lawmaker Götz Frömming said the party is invited to such events as one of the parties represented in parliament. The party rejects accusations of extremism. A grandson of von Stauffenberg, Karl von Stauffenberg, told Welt television that the AfD was trying to exploit his grandfather's memory but said the party should not be prevented from laying a wreath.