Out-branding the Nazis in Germany

Neo-Nazis in Germany may be unified in their racism, antisemitism and hatred of foreigners. But these days, they do not all look the same.

No longer are right-wing extremists all wearing the Thor Steinar clothing brand, or sporting the skinhead look.

Observers of the far-right in Germany say that neo-Nazis are increasingly seen with piercings, graffiti-look tops, baggy trousers, mohawk haircuts and other accessories that might have led to them being beaten up by right-wing extremists only a few years ago.

Neo-Nazis are still able to recognise each other, says Frank Metzger, education expert at Berlin-based social watchdog group Agency for Social Perspectives. Subtle signs are now common, says Mr Metzger, including pins and pendants bearing the Iron Cross or the "Hammer of Thor", or the tartan-lined Harrington jacket.

But the fact that others do not recognise them can be very dangerous. Increasingly, neo-Nazi youths attending events or demonstrations will violently attack members of minority groups who never saw them coming, Mr Metzger said.

Another watchdog organisation, Last Stop for the Right Wing, has developed its own satirical answer to neo-Nazi fashion. The "Storch Heinar" clothing brand parodies Thor Steinar with its name, its logo - which depicts a stork laying an egg - and in the use of various other Nazi symbols, which are altered for comic effect. "We did it mostly to give people a chance to laugh at Nazis, but we also inform people about the strategies of the extreme right-wingers," said Julian Barlen, a co-founder of Last Stop for the Right Wing. The firm is based in the former East German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, where the right-wing extremist National Democratic Party of Germany has six seats in the state parliament.

According to the German Office for Protection of the Constitution, violent neo-Nazism is on the rise, although membership in some neo-Nazi parties has dropped.

The office's annual report for 2010, released in May, showed that the number of neo-Nazis with violent tendencies rose markedly in 2010, to a total of 5,600.

The number of people identifying as right-wing extremists dropped from 31,000 in 2009 to 25,000 in 2010. But violence-prone "autonomous nationalists" increased by 200 in 2010, to a total of 1,000.

"Sure, these modern neo-Nazis don't look like Hitler," Mr Barlen said. "They use contemporary music, they use stylish clothes, they do all these things to be cool. And while we think Storch Heinar is a funny answer to that, the subtext is always that young people should be aware of the strategies of the far right."Neo-Nazis in Germany may be unified in their racism, antisemitism and hatred of foreigners. But these days, they do not all look the same.

No longer are right-wing extremists all wearing the Thor Steinar clothing brand, or sporting the skinhead look.

Observers of the far-right in Germany say that neo-Nazis are increasingly seen with piercings, graffiti-look tops, baggy trousers, mohawk haircuts and other accessories that might have led to them being beaten up by right-wing extremists only a few years ago.

Neo-Nazis are still able to recognise each other, says Frank Metzger, education expert at Berlin-based social watchdog group Agency for Social Perspectives. Subtle signs are now common, says Mr Metzger, including pins and pendants bearing the Iron Cross or the "Hammer of Thor", or the tartan-lined Harrington jacket.

But the fact that others do not recognise them can be very dangerous. Increasingly, neo-Nazi youths attending events or demonstrations will violently attack members of minority groups who never saw them coming, Mr Metzger said.

Another watchdog organisation, Last Stop for the Right Wing, has developed its own satirical answer to neo-Nazi fashion. The "Storch Heinar" clothing brand parodies Thor Steinar with its name, its logo - which depicts a stork laying an egg - and in the use of various other Nazi symbols, which are altered for comic effect. "We did it mostly to give people a chance to laugh at Nazis, but we also inform people about the strategies of the extreme right-wingers," said Julian Barlen, a co-founder of Last Stop for the Right Wing. The firm is based in the former East German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, where the right-wing extremist National Democratic Party of Germany has six seats in the state parliament.

According to the German Office for Protection of the Constitution, violent neo-Nazism is on the rise, although membership in some neo-Nazi parties has dropped.

The office's annual report for 2010, released in May, showed that the number of neo-Nazis with violent tendencies rose markedly in 2010, to a total of 5,600.

The number of people identifying as right-wing extremists dropped from 31,000 in 2009 to 25,000 in 2010. But violence-prone "autonomous nationalists" increased by 200 in 2010, to a total of 1,000.

"Sure, these modern neo-Nazis don't look like Hitler," Mr Barlen said. "They use contemporary music, they use stylish clothes, they do all these things to be cool. And while we think Storch Heinar is a funny answer to that, the subtext is always that young people should be aware of the strategies of the far right."

Source: The JC.com

'Awareness of Ethnic Discrimination Is Low in Germany' - 08/29/2007

SPIEGEL ONLINE talks to racism expert Nicole Bosch about xenophobia in Germany and what can be done to combat right-wing extremism.

A new report on racism in Europe by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) has revealed that racist violence is on the rise in Germany and that discrimination is commonplace. SPIEGEL ONLINE spoke to racism expert Nicole Bosch from the European Forum for Migration Studies in Bamberg -- which supplied the information about Germany for the FRA report -- about the new findings and how racism can be fought.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: In general, is the problem of racism in Germany getting better or worse?

Bosch: In 2006, the police registered the highest number of politically motivated right-wing crimes since 2001. In contrast to previous years, the 2006 figures also indicate a rise in the number of xenophobic crimes. (In previous years the increase was mainly due to rising propaganda crime figures). In 2006, 484 of the right-wing extremist crimes were registered as xenophobic and violent, compared to 355 cases in 2005.

However, the preliminary figures for the first half of 2007 indicate a strong decrease in xenophobic right-wing crime compared to the preliminary figures for the same period in 2006. Among the 723 xenophobic criminal acts in the first half year of 2007, 148 incidents were violent crimes.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: According to the FRA report, racist crimes increased in Germany in 2006. Does this mean that racism is becoming more of a problem, or does it reflect better reporting of crimes?

Bosch: The drastic increase, especially in violent crimes with a xenophobic background, cannot be explained by better reporting of crimes. The official criminal registration and definition system, the “Criminal Investigation Registration Service -- Politically Motivated Criminality,” (which keeps statistics on political crimes committed across the whole of Germany) had already been introduced as long ago as 2001.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Is racism a particular problem in certain parts of Germany?

Bosch: Concerning the number of right-wing extremist violent crimes, the figures show that eastern Germany tends to be more affected by such crimes than western Germany. In 2005, the highest numbers of such crimes in relation to the total population were recorded in Saxony-Anhalt, where there were 4.29 crimes per 100,000 inhabitants, and Brandenburg (3.78 crimes per 100,000 inhabitants), which are both in eastern Germany. In contrast, the western German states of Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate displayed the lowest figures, with 0.41 and 0.59 crimes per 100,000 inhabitants, respectively. However, these figures cannot simply be interpreted as meaning there is more or less racism in eastern or western Germany.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: How does Germany compare to other European Union members in terms of racism?

Bosch: Due to different laws, different criminal justice traditions and procedures, it is currently impossible to compare official criminal justice data on racist violence between EU member states. According to the FRA report, criminal justice data on racist violence and crime from a national source is only available in 11 member states. Germany belongs to the majority -- eight out of 11 member states -- which experienced a general upward trend in racist crime during the last five or six years.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Is the average German sensitive to racism as a problem?

Bosch: Attitudes -- especially in an international comparative perspective -- are difficult to assess. For the German context, there are two much-discussed studies which examined xenophobic attitudes in Germany. According to the latest round of the longitudinal (i.e. long-term) Group-Focused Enmity Syndrome (GMF) survey conducted by Bielefeld University's Institute for Interdisciplinary Research on Conflict and Violence, the extent of xenophobic attitudes in 2006 remained at the level of the previous year -- after a constant increase between 2002 and 2005.

In November 2006, the Friedrich-Ebert Foundation released the results of a representative survey on right-wing extremist attitudes among Germans. That study categorized 26.7 percent of the around 5,000 people interviewed as xenophobic. The authors concluded that the phenomenon of right-wing extremism constitutes a political problem not only at the margins, but also in the center of German society.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Would a ban on the far-right National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD) help to combat racism?

Bosch: By banning the NPD, the state would show that official institutions are fighting right-wing and xenophobic attitudes with all the means it has at its disposal. In this sense, a ban on the NPD could be one state measure to fight these tendencies.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: What is the bigger problem: right-wing extremism and violence, or "everyday" racism (discrimination in employment, housing etc)?

Bosch: Right-wing extremism and violence are substantially threatening our societies. However these phenomena can not be seen without discrimination -- people suffering in different social fields. This is why FRA does not only monitor racist and xenophobic violence and crimes but also discrimination in the fields of education, employment, housing and health.

But the level of awareness of ethnic discrimination is low in German society. This lack of awareness is also due to the lack of information on the extent of discrimination in Germany. Systematic monitoring or data collection mechanisms on discrimination are not in place in Germany -- neither in the education system, nor in housing, nor in the sphere of employment. Although proxy data clearly show the disadvantaged position of foreigners in various social spheres, these statistics are hardly suitable for unveiling the “real” extent of ethnic discrimination.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Why is Germany "lagging behind" (to quote the FRA report) in implementing the EU Racial Equality Directive?

Bosch: The General Equal Treatment Act (AGG) which was passed in Germany to implement the four EU equality directives (including the Racial Equality Directive) came into force on August 18, 2006 -- more than three years after the July 2003 deadline for the implementation of the EU Racial Directive. Germany's new specialised body for the promotion of equal treatment, the Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency, which is part of the Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, was only recently fully staffed. On the occasion of the first anniversary of the AGG, the heated debate about the act has started up again. In Germany, skepticism towards legal anti-discrimination regulations remains high.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: What can be done to fight racism in Germany?

Bosch: The significant decrease of right-wing and xenophobic tendencies between 2000 and 2003 indicates that the effectiveness of the struggle against extreme right-wing, xenophobic and anti-Semitic developments depends on a combination of immediate state measures (e.g. law enforcement) and the long-term development of social control mechanisms in the society (e.g. awareness raising). It is essential that police authorities enforce the law by consistently registering and forcefully combating such incidents and that the perpetrators are punished adequately.

Furthermore, strong public condemnation of these phenomena by official figures, such as leading politicians and other opinion leaders, affects the perception of racism and xenophobia in the media and in society in general. In addition, the fight against xenophobia and anti-Semitism depends on the commitment and active involvement of civil society, particularly through local initiatives (e.g. round tables), projects and other activities (e.g. demonstrations against xenophobia and educational programs). These civil society activities strengthen mechanisms of social control and condemnation of right-wing violence, xenophobia and anti-Semitism.

In order to ensure the sustainability of the struggle against xenophobia and anti-Semitism -- and this seems to be a shortcoming in Germany -- respective good practice initiatives and projects (e.g. victims' support organisation) must be supported on a long-term basis and continuously institutionalised.

Interview conducted via e-mail by David Gordon Smith

Source: Spiegel

New Book Reveals Secret Meaning of Neo-Nazi Codes - 06/27/2011

If you were at a German soccer game and saw fans holding up the numbers 14 and 88 in cardboard numerals, you might imagine them to be, say, the shirt numbers of fans' favorite players. But you'd be wrong. In fact, the numbers hold a much more sinister meaning: They are actually neo-Nazi symbols.

It's just one example of how right-wing extremists in Germany use hidden codes to get around a legal ban on Nazi symbols such as the swastika. Very few people know the real meaning of such codes, says Michael Weiss, a German expert on right-wing extremism.

Very few people know the real meaning of such codes, says Michael Weiss, a German expert on right-wing extremism who is one of the authors of the brochure. Nordic-style symbols, as seen on the back of this man's jacket and as a tattoo on his arm, are also popular with right-wing extremists.

Openly Nazi symbols such as the swastika are banned in Germany. Neo-Nazis get around the law by using secret combinations of letter and numbers such as 14 and 88. A new book, "Das Versteckspiel" ("Hide and Seek"), explains the meaning of such codes. Here, a right-wing extremism with tattoos including the number 14 and the "white power" fist logo.

Here, a right-wing extremist in Berlin wears a shirt featuring the inscription "Frontbann 24," the name of an organization that was banned in 2009. The name is inspired by a Nazi organization that was founded in 1924.

The ancient symbol of the triskelion is also used by right-wing extremists. The clothing label Fred Perry, which made the polo shirt seen here, has long been popular with skinheads of all political persuasions and is worn by some German neo-Nazis. The firm has taken pains to distance itself from the scene.

The number 8 is also a common neo-Nazi symbol. Extremists use it to stand in for the letter H, for Hitler. Here the combination spells out the word "hate." Max H8 is a German streetwear label.

Some neo-Nazis have co-opted imagery previously used by the left-wing. The flag symbols here looks similar to those used by German anti-fascists.

The demonstrator holding the bullhorn is sporting the Black Sun or sunwheel symbol, which is popular with neo-Nazis, on his vest (2006 photo). The man on the right appears to have pieces of adhesive tape on his hoodie, which he could be using to conceal banned symbols.

Some neo-Nazis have taken to wearing the kaffiyeh scarf (seen on the right), a symbol of Palestinian nationalism, "as a symbol of struggle against Israel," says Weiss.

 Here, a right-wing extremist (holding flag) has clearly been inspired by Adolf Hitler's personal look. The man next to him is wearing a T-shirt from the clothing firm Masterrace Europe, whose products are worn by neo-Nazis.

Thor Steinar is one of several German clothing labels associated with neo-Nazis.

 Thor Steinar is one of several German clothing labels associated with neo-Nazis.

 ... to these left-wing demonstrators protesting against a neo-Nazi rally in Dresden.

Weiss, who has been researching right-wing clothing and symbols for 10 years, is one of the authors of a new brochure titled "Das Versteckspiel" ("Hide and Seek"). The publication, which is aimed at teachers, social workers and youth group leaders, is designed to raise awareness of right-wing codes, which are often displayed at football games. "We want the soccer teams and the major fan clubs to be able to recognize the codes," Weiss told SPIEGEL.

Secret Codes 'Everywhere'

The brochure, which is published by a Berlin-based anti-racism group, Agentur für Soziale Perspektiven, lists 150 codes that are used by right-wing extremists, including certain clothing labels such as Thor Steinar and letter and number combinations. According to Weiss, the number 14 is a reference to the so-called "14 Words," a phrase coined by the American white separatist David Lane ("We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children"). The meaning behind "88" -- often found in conjunction with 14 -- is slightly more complicated. Here, the number eight stands for the eighth letter of the alphabet, forming "HH" -- an abbreviation for "Heil Hitler," a phrase which is banned in Germany. Similarly, the number 28 signifies "BH," standing for "Blood and Honour," a far-right network that was banned in Germany in 2000.

The secret code numbers can be found "everywhere," says Weiss, including on license plates, tattoos and on signs at football games. "There are fans who travel 400 kilometers (250 miles) to a game just to hold up the four numbers that form 1488," he says.

The Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Germany's domestic intelligence agency, estimated that in 2009 -- the most recent year for which figures are available -- there were 195 far-right organizations in the country with around 26,000 members. The agency can shut down Kameradschaften, gangs or brotherhoods which are deemed violent. But many other groups in the neo-Nazi scene -- such as rock bands with suggestive lyrics or clothing companies with coded symbols -- often fly under the legal radar, provided they don't openly display symbols like swastikas or explicitly support Adolf Hitler or his party.

Borrowing Symbols

The number of codes has increased since the first edition of the brochure was published in 2001. That publication only listed around 100 symbols. "The image of neo-Nazis is much more diverse today," says Weiss. Right-wing extremists used to wear bomber jackets and have skinheads, he explains, but now their style incorporates elements from pop and rock culture. "Now they have piercings," he says.

Similarly, old symbols are given new meanings, Weiss explains, giving the example of the kaffiyeh scarf, a symbol of Palestinian nationalism. "That is used nowadays simply as a symbol of struggle against Israel," says Weiss, pointing out that neo-Nazis ignore the broader meaning of the garment when they co-opt it as a symbol.

The increasingly diverse image of right-wing extremists mean that neo-Nazis can often blend in at left-wing demonstrations or in a sports stadium, Weiss explains. "The problem is that many of these people no longer stand out."

Source: Spiegel

Neo-Nazis Cut Swastika Into Woman's Hip - 11/26/2007

Yet another far-right assault in eastern Germany: Police are hunting four men who sliced a swastika into the hip of a 17-year-old woman after she tried to stop them harassing a six-year-old girl. Witnesses have been slow to come forward.

German police say they have received two leads but have made no arrests yet in the case of a 17-year-old girl attacked by four far-right youths who cut a swastika symbol into her hip in the eastern town of Mittweida this month.

The men had been outside a supermarket pushing and harassing a six-year-old girl from the former Soviet Union. The teenager shouted at them to stop and they responded by turning on her. They threw her to the ground, three of them held her and the fourth cut the 5 centimeter (2 inch) Nazi symbol into her thigh with what she said was an "object similar to a scalpel."

He also tried to cut a Germanic symbol into her cheek but she defended herself so violently that they failed, police said. Police have located a 19-year-old suspect but so far none of the people who witnessed the attack have come forward to testify and the local court has refused to issue an arrest warrant against him because of a lack of evidence.

Photofit picture of one of the assailants based on the victim's description.

Mittweida's mayor Matthias Damm plans to write to residents living in the area where the attack happened calling on them to testify. The victim said many residents watched the attack from their balconies.

The attack happened on Nov. 3 but the teenager didn't report it until nine days later after she had told her mother who went to the police with her. Police believe her story because a medical examination concluded that she could not have cut the swastika herself, and the six-year-old girl corroborated it.

"A medical examination found that the injuries sustained by the 17-year-old cannot have been self-inflicted," a police spokesman told SPIEGEL ONLINE.

Police said on Sunday they had received two leads from the public after they released photofit pictures of the attackers. The victim said two of the attackers had badges bearing the letters NSDAP, the acronym of Hitler's Nazi party, on their bomber jackets. The mayor of the town of 16,000, located in the eastern state of Saxony, condemned the attacks and called on the inhabitants to work with the police to find the perpetrators

.

"The young woman deserves the highest respect for showing such courage," the mayor's office said on the town's official Web site. "We call on the citizens of our town not to look away when such incidents happen, to show courage and to work with the police."

Eastern Germany has become notorious for the high number of racist assaults on minorities there since unification in 1990. The relatively strong support for far-right groups and political parties in the east has been attributed to the region's economic decline and to the failure of the Communist regime to nurture a public sense of responsibility for the crimes of the Nazis.

Several racist assaults have attracted nationwide media coverage this year including one in August when eight Indian menwere beaten up and chased by a group shouting "Foreigners out!" in the town of Mügeln.

Source: Spiegel

Indian Student subjected to racism in Germany

As told by the victim Dr. Rajamohan Durai:

In 1974 I applied to take the Hauptdiplom examination. A month before the exam I had an attack of writer’s cramps and I could not write. The doctors who treated me said it was a psychogenic reaction probably caused by some incidents of racist prejudice shown by some university staff. I requested the university to permit me to do doctorate directly under the exemption rules cited above, since I could take oral examination. I was forcibly  exmatriculated  from the university on the ground of long illness whose end was not foreseeable.

The University misrepresented some incidents so that the Govt.Doctor concluded that I am a psychiatric case. I underwent the humiliating experience of staying in the government psychiatric hospital for a week to prove that I am neither insane nor an addict.  Prof.Dr.Spiegelberg not only faulted the government doctor's report but also subtly hinted that the University is to be blamed. One would think such things happened in a fascist regime.

Why this discrimination between Indians and the British? British Universities treat Indian degrees as equal to their own. But Germans treat us as inferior! This is nothing but racism. How could the university judge my qualificational equivalence after refusing to examine me orally?”

Please visit the link below to read further: Google Sites

Pregnant Woman Hospitalized in Racist Attack - 12/03/2007

The eastern German city of Magdeburg saw a series of hate crimes over the weekend. Suspected right-wing extremists attacked five Iraqis -- including a pregnant woman -- and four Africans in two separate incidents, and a Jewish community center was also vandalized.

A 20-year-old pregnant Iraqi woman was among several victims of what were believed to be racially motivated attacks in the eastern German town of Magdeburg this weekend.

A group of Germans attacked five Iraqis on a night bus on Saturday night, police reported Sunday. The group of two women and three men were verbally abused as they were getting on the bus around 10 p.m. A German man punched one of the woman in the face at the bus stop, and a second man pushed her against her two-year-old child's stroller. The woman, who is pregnant, had to be taken to hospital suffering from abdominal pain, police said. The police detained two suspects but later released them.

In a second attack, three men and a woman from Niger were allegedly harassed and racially abused by three men who are believed to be German. A fight developed, during which two of the Africans were injured. A passerby alerted the police who came and broke up the fight. A police officer who tried to detain two of the suspects was attacked and injured by the group of assailants, which had grown to six or seven people, and the two suspects managed to flee. The group split up before additional police could arrive.

In a third incident, a Jewish community center in the city was vandalized on Sunday. An intercom box was torn off the wall of the building, causing €300 worth of damage. Police have not ruled out an anti-Semitic motive.

Germany's domestic intelligence service, which monitors far-right activity, is investigating all three cases.

The incidents are merely the latest in an ongoing series of attacks on foreigners in Germany's economically deprived eastern states. An attack on eight Indian men by a mob in the town of Mügeln made headlines around the world in August 2007. More recently, four men carved a swastika into the thigh of a 17-year-old woman after she tried to stop them harassing a six-year-old girl in the town of Mittweida.

Source: Spiegel

Indians Express Concern about Visiting Germany - 08/29/2007

The attacks on eight Indians in eastern Germany 10 days ago shocked many back home. Now the German embassy in New Dehli is being inundated with calls from prospective visitors to Germany who want to know what risks they face.

Following the vicious attack on eight of their compatriots in eastern Germany just over a week ago, Indians planning a visit to Germany are concerned about the risks they may be facing. Many have been contacting the German embassy in New Dehli to find out exactly where so-called "No-Go" areas they should avoid are located.

Their anxiety follows events in Mügeln, a town in the Eastern German state of Saxony, on Aug. 19, when eight Indians were chased and attacked by a mob of over 50 people shouting "Foreigners Out!" during a street party. The eight men eventually found refuge in a pizzeria, but the crowd broke inside and began beating them. It took 70 police to disperse the crowds.

Mügeln was the scene of an attack on eight Indians on Aug. 19. Now their compatriots want to know where else to avoid in Germany.

In the aftermath of these ugly scenes the Indian government expressed its alarm to the Berlin government. "We have requested that the German authorities take action to address this issue and prevent future incidents of the kind," Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna said in a statement last week.

Volker Kauder, the parliamentary leader of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats, is currently in New Dehli for talks with the Indian government and he admitted that the events in Mügeln were viewed with much concern there. Speaking to the Rheinsiche Post newspaper he said: "Our embassy has received many inquires about where the so-called 'No-Go' areas for foreign visitors are in Germany." Kauder pointed out that Indians are, however, making an effort not to play up the incident: "The Indians recognize that these events in Mügeln are not the rule in Germany." Kauder added that Chancellor Merkel's clear condemnation of the attacks had done a lot to calm the situation.

According to Saxony's state prosecutor, 82 witnesses have so far been interviewed in connection with the Mügeln attack and the police confirmed on Tuesday that they are investigating seven suspects. The state police chief Bernd Merbitz told the Associated Press that the actions had not been committed by a particular extreme-right group. Nonetheless, he said, the chanting of slogans such as "Foreigners Out!" and "Germany for Germans" constituted a xenophobic criminal offence.

The incident has prompted some politicians, including the leader of the Social Democrats Kurt Beck, to call for the far-right National Democratic Party (NPD) to be banned. A 2003 bid to do exactly that failed due to strict legal obstacles to banning political parties in Germany. Since then the NPD has managed to enter two state parliaments in eastern Germany: Saxony in 2004, with 9.2 percent of the vote, and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in 2006 with 7.3 percent.

Source: http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,502654,00.html

Mügeln Mayor Slammed for Trivializing Racist Attack - 08/31/2007

Two weeks after eight Indians were attacked by a mob in the Eastern German town of Mügeln, its mayor can't see what all the fuss is about. Leading politicians are shocked that he continues to downplay the incident and there are calls for his resignation.

The reverberations following the racist attack on eight Indians in the Eastern German town of Mügeln two weeks ago are still being felt in Germany. Politicians from across the spectrum reacted with anger after Mügeln Mayor Gotthard Deuse complained that a media campaign had been whipped up against the town and criticized leading politicians for their "malicious" comments. His own party, the business friendly Free Democrats, is distancing itself from him and there are calls for him to resign.

Mügeln Mayor Gotthard Deuse feels his town is the victim of a poisonous media campaign. As far as he is concerned there's no right-wing extremism in the town.

There was widespread revulsion in Germany and beyond after eight Indian men were chased through the streets of Mügeln by a mob of 50 people on Aug. 19. The men took refuge in a pizzeria as the crowd chanted "Foreigners Out!" and "Germany for Germans," before breaking in and beating up the men inside.

In a classic example of pouring oil onto the fire Deuse, in an interview given to the right-wing Young Freedom newspaper, complained about the rush to judge his town in what he called a "media campaign." He completely denied that there was a problem with right-wing extremism in the town and accused politicians like Transport Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee -- who is also responsible for overseeing development in former East Germany, of making uninformed "populist" comments about the attacks.

Tiefensee had already warned against belittling the events in Mügeln and he hit back at Deuse on Friday, telling the Rheinische Post that "citizens and groups had to be courageous in tackling extreme-right tendencies. Looking away and downplaying the problem is exactly the wrong thing to do."

Tiefensee pointed out that the radical right was stronger in the former East Germany than it was in the West. "There is an historic lack of exposure to immigration and cultural diversity," he said, while admitting that the difficult job market plays a role in radicalization. But the Social Democrat politician insisted that this didn’t justify "threats and acts of violence against foreigners or anyone else."

Deuse, who has been mayor of Mügeln for the past 17 years, had already insisted that there was no far-right scene in the town. In his interview he complained about the "poisonous" attacks on the town and accused some politicians of not knowing what they were talking about and of being either ignorant or "deliberately malicious." He regretted that Germans were not allowed show their own national pride and said "I am proud to be a German."

Leading politicians from the Social Democrats (SPD) and Green Party have demanded Deuse resign as mayor, while his party has tried to distance itself from the mayor and his remarks.

SPD member Sebastian Edathy, who is chairman of the parliamentary domestic affairs committee told the Mitteldeutsche Zeitung "Mr. Deuse should ask himself whether he can be of any more use in his position. I have my doubts." Green Party parliamentary leader Renate Künast declared: "The mayor of Mügeln has to go!" The Left Party's deputy parliamentary leader Bodo Ramelow said that he had the impression that the mayor was "xenophobic deep down."

As for the FDP, General Secretary Dirk Niebel said Deuse is responsible for his own words and insisted: "There can be no relativization when it comes to acts of violence and xenophobic attitudes. That is the basis of an open-minded and tolerant society for all democrats."

Source: Spiegel

Family Escapes Small Town Xenophobia - 04/05/2008

By Philipp Wittrock in Rudolstadt

Insulted, spat at and attacked -- by ordinary Germans. Unable to bear the daily racism, a pastor's family fled from a small town in eastern Germany back to the their former home in the west.

Sometime last year, Miriam Neuschäfer, who has dark skin because her mother is Indian, decided it was time to record the daily instances of racism she and her family were suffering. The 32-year-old mother of five and wife of a German clergyman wrote down her encounters with the citizens of Rudolstadt, a small town in the eastern German state of Thuringia.

"It helped me work through it," she says, "and some day I want the children to understand everything that happened to us."

A slight woman, Neuschäfer sits at her kitchen table, flipping through the yellow file. She constantly shakes her head. Ten pages filled with black writing. She has more just like it in a drawer -- perhaps 50, she estimates.

Reiner Neuschäfer with his five children. The mother, Miriam, is half Indian.

When she first started she would write in full sentences but ended up just jotting down bullet points. The files are a disturbing account of the events that drove the family out of Rudolstadt after spending almost eight years trying and failing to get on with the locals. They have moved back to western Germany, to the town of Erkelenz in the Rhineland where they are not subject to daily abuse.

She could no longer stand the racism, the hostile comments from everyday citizens, the feeling that she was hated in her own country. "It was an escape," she says. "It was a matter of survival."

Neuschäfer grew up in the Lower Rhine region of Germany, studied theology and speaks perfect German. Her husband, Reiner Andreas Neuschäfer, 40, is a pastor. In 2000, he was offered the position as schools administrator for the southern Thuringia region.

It was an attractive job, and the family had no qualms about moving east. The Neuschäfers and their two young children moved to Rudolstadt, a former royal retreat in a pretty valley near Erfurt. It's a small town with 25,000 residents. A family would find its footing and make new friends in a place like this, they thought.

But the Neuschäfers remained strangers in Thuringia.

From the beginning, says Reiner, the family sensed major "cultural differences." They found it hard to get to know people and the few friends they did make had also come from western Germany. They felt isolated. But they didn't lose heart. Perhaps, they thought, they had just misread the local character. After all, even native Thuringians admit they have a tendency to be grumpy and aren't the easiest people to please.

It will work out in the end, thought the Neuschäfers. But it didn't. In fact, things started to get worse.

The Neuschäfers began to sense something more profound than just cool distance. "We could sit here for hours, and I could just keep coming up with examples," says Miriam, as she browses through her accounts of hate and animosity.

"Your Skin Isn't Right"

The alarm bells first went off in 2002 during a conversation with the kindergarten teacher of Jannik, the oldest son, who is now 10 years old. The conversation suddenly turned to the issue of integration. "Your skin isn't right," the other children said to him. It got so bad that Jannik tried to scrub his skin white with a coarse brush.

According to the parents, when Jannik went to grade school later, the teasing continued. "Mom, what's a nigger?" the young boy asked at home. His classmates had taunted him, saying: "You are this brown because you rubbed shit all over yourself." One day, nine school mates reportedly beat Jannik up on the playground so badly that Reiner called the police. The school administration scolded the small boys who had roughed him up.

The second-oldest daughter, Fenja, who is now eight, also came home with stories of being bullied. And the mother, Miriam, had her own harassment experiences, too. She recalls how an elderly gentleman in a supermarket said: "Amazing the kind of people they let shop here" as she and her children walked past. "Go back to the jungle!" she remembers another man yelling at her once. She was in a parking lot and hadn't closed her car door fast enough for his liking as he tried to pull his car into the adjacent spot.

Less Than Helpful Authorities

It wasn't long before just being stared at by people started to get to Miriam. "I just kept my eyes on the ground and counted the paving stones, she says. It wasn't long before she stopped venturing out of her house on her own.

Even when she was accompanied with her large and powerfully built husband or with the few friends they had, Miriam and the children sensed people's animosity. Whenever the family showed up at a busy playground, it would empty out abruptly. "In glorious sunshine," according to the mother. One day a teenager spat at her as she walked through a park with an acquaintance, she says.

"Spat at? I can't imagine that," says Georg Eger, the deputy mayor, vigorously shaking his head in his office on the second floor of the Rudolstadt town hall. He raises his finger and continues: "I even rule that out." City spokesman Michael Wagner tries to soften that categoric statement a little. Of course, one can't vouch for every single citizen, he says.

There's a whole lot of head shaking in Rudolstadt's town hall these days. "We've been steamrolled," Eger says. Steamrolled by reports about the Neuschäfers' flight from the xenophobia of some of Rudolstadt's inhabitants.

Crisis management is what is called for now, says the spokesman. He adds that he is drafting a public statement by the city in response to the matter. Every sentence counts. The example of Mügeln made that clear. In that small town in Saxony, in August 2007, a drunken mob attacked a group of Indian men after a confrontation at a street festival. The group shouted racist taunts, but Mügeln's mayor played down the problem and blamed the violence on visitors from out of town.

Fear of the Mügeln Effect

Like Mügeln, Rudolstadt is worried about its reputation. In recent years the city has fought an uphill battle to improve its image. In 1992, after 2,000 neo-Nazis marched here in memory of Hitler's deputy Rudolf Hess, the town was labelled a bastion of the far right. Today, Rudolstadt's inhabitants proudly point out that the town is home to Germany's largest world music festival, which draws 10,000 people from all over the world each year.

Now the town's administration fears its reputation is slipping again. The mayor's office has received hundreds of hate e-mails. Their message: "We won't be returning to Rudolstadt."

The town has to walk a fine line. It has to fight against the blanket judgment that it is a nest of xenophobia, but it must also avoid publicly dismissing the Neuschäfers' claims as being made-up stories. At times, the latter is particularly hard. The deputy mayor speaks of "schoolyard scuffles." The mayor intends to meet Reiner Neuschäfer soon to clear up the matter as soon as possible. Until then, he'll ask around about something that he never cared to hear about before. He'll talk to the police, who confirm the Neuschäfers filed two legal complaints. And he'll talk with the school, which is currently defending itself against the accusation that it didn't do enough to help.

The Neuschäfers say they aren't bitter, that this is not about stigmatizing eastern Germany or Rudolstadt. They did not seek out the publicity. The story of their flight from Thuringia leaked out gradually, reaching the press by coincidence.

Miriam and her children finally moved to Erkelenz last October. At first it was just intended as a vacation, as rest and recuperation. But it became an "act of liberation". They found they couldn't bring themselves to return to Rudolstadt.

Miriam and her children Jannik, Fenja, Ronja, Jarrit and Jannis Neuschäfer are enjoying life in their former home. Their father is still looking for a job back in the Rhineland. For now, every weekend he drives the 430 kilometers (267 miles) between Erkelenz, where he spends time with his family, and Rudolstadt, where he sleeps during the week on a mattress in their empty flat.

At the moment, he is on vacation. Next Tuesday, he will drive back to Thuringia for the first time since the accusations of racism were made public. He has "mixed feelings" about the looming trip, he says. He knows "it could be a gauntlet."

Source: Spiegel