Udo Pastörs (born August 24, 1952, in Schwaan, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany) is a German far-right politician and prominent figure in Germany's far-right political scene. He rose to prominence as a leader of the National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD), a neo-Nazi party, serving as its federal chairman from 2011 to 2014. Pastörs entered politics through local and regional levels, becoming a member of the Landtag of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in 2006, where he represented the NPD until losing his seat in the 2016 elections. His political career has been marked by extreme nationalist and anti-immigrant rhetoric, aligning with groups like Pegida, for which he briefly served as a spokesman in Dresden in 2015 before being ousted due to internal conflicts. Pastörs has faced significant legal repercussions for his views, most notably a 2016 conviction for Holocaust denial, resulting in a fine of €5,600. He was accused of minimizing the scale of the Holocaust during a 2010 speech, leading to a criminal trial that highlighted his role in promoting revisionist history. Criticized widely by mainstream politicians, media, and anti-fascist organizations for fostering hate speech and extremism, Pastörs has been condemned for his associations with neo-Nazi networks and for attempting to mainstream far-right ideologies in eastern Germany. Despite the NPD's declining influence, including a failed constitutional challenge in 2017, Pastörs remains a symbol of persistent radical right-wing activity in the region. His personal background includes working as a secondary school teacher before fully committing to politics, though details of his early life and family are sparse in public records. Pastörs' motivations appear rooted in regional identity politics in post-reunification eastern Germany, where economic grievances have fueled support for far-right movements. Ongoing investigations and surveillance by German authorities, such as the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, underscore his continued relevance in mapping networks of influence within extremist circles.