Nazi-hunter Klarsfeld seeks German presidency
Berlin's far-left Die Linke party names 73-year-old as its presidential candidate, but her chances are slim
A German opposition party has nominated Nazi-hunter Beate Klarsfeld as a long-shot candidate for the German presidency in an election next month.
Berlin's far-left Die Linke party announced the nomination of 73-year-old Klarsfeld – the German-born wife of France's best-known Nazi hunter, Serge Klarsfeld – to challenge Joachim Gauck in the March 18 vote by a special parliamentary assembly.
Gauck, a 72-year-old Lutheran pastor from the former East Germany, is certain to be voted in with cross-party support by a special body made up of MPs and other dignitaries on March 18.
Klarsfeld gained international prominence in 1968 when she slapped then-West German Chancellor Kurt Georg Kiesinger, a former Nazi party member, at a conference in Berlin.
She said that while she was not politically in line with Die Linke, she was honored by the prospect of the nomination for the presidency.
The elections were called following the February 17 resignation of Christian Wulff, amid a corruption scandal.
