For Sergey Lagodinsky, the timing could not have been more symbolic.

As Germany marked the 80th anniversary of the Kristallnacht Nazi pogrom against the country’s Jews over the weekend, he secured nomination as a Green Party candidate for next year’s European parliament elections.

Mr Lagodinsky is a rare Jewish voice in modern German politics. The 43-year-old immigrant says he is running for election in part to make a stand against the growing “wave of anti-liberalism across Europe”.

“As a Jew and as an immigrant, I see the danger of what’s happening,” he says. “I grew up in the Soviet Union. After living under an oppressive regime I want to protect liberal democracy.”

The overwhelming majority…