The writer directs the Center on the US and Europe at the Brookings Institution

“Bit by bit, one loses hope.” That is what Charlotte Knobloch, a 91-year-old Holocaust survivor and former head of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, posted on social media after publication of the results for elections in two eastern German states on Sunday.

For the first time in the postwar era, a confirmed rightwing extremist party has won a state election in Germany. The Alternative for Germany won first place in Thuringia; in Saxony, it ended up a close second after the Christian Democrats (CDU). The Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), which was launched only eight months ago and champions a left-conservative nationalism, gained third place with double-digit results in both states.