Horst Strub was an enthusiastic young member of Germany’s neo-Nazi NDP party. Monika Strub, 35, is running for Baden-Württemberg’s state parliament for the nation’s socialist Left party. But they have more in common than their political differences would imply.

In fact, they’re the same person, reports German news site TheLocal.de. Until gender-reassignment surgery, “Horst” sported “cropped hair, a beard and a bomber jacket,” TheLocal says, embracing “the right-wing extremist National Democratic Party (NPD) from 2000 to 2002.”

“Monica” is now a nurse and photographer “who decided to go ahead and campaign for the Social Democrats after convincing the party that she really had changed, not just in terms of her gender but also in her political beliefs,” according to UK site OrangeNews.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

“I am not trying to hide my past and I never have done, either from the fact that I was a man or the fact that I was a member of the far right scene – but now I am a different person and I have completely broken ties with the NPD. I am a true socialist.”

Not all her compatriots agree. “I have now become a victim of far-right harassment, I have had numerous threats from people who feel I betrayed the NPD. My home has also been vandalized with graffiti,” Strub tells Orange.

Christoph Kröpel, a spokesman for the Left party in the state of Baden-Württemberg, described Strub’s history with the NPD as a “youthful transgression” – and said she had “fundamentally changed,” Orange reports.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’re near the end of our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we have a very ambitious goal of $127,000 by April 21.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a Passover gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Make a Passover Gift Today!

$90 $180

$360

Other amount