When a radical right party wins a state election in Germany, the headlines write themselves. This month’s victory for the Alternative for Germany was greeted in much the same way across the world. CNN labeled AfD “the first far-right party to win since 1945.” London’s Daily Telegraph went with “first since the Nazi era.” Germany’s own DW preferred “first since World War Two.”

It got me thinking. There are indeed parallels with Nazism, but not the ones that most people make. The AfD is not about to invade Poland or reestablish the Hitler Youth. Rather, it is part of the populist wave that has surged across Europe in response to rising levels of immigration and crime.