September 07, 2018

Ghosts of the past haunting Germany

located:	Germany
editor:	Maria João Morais

Social disruption has returned to the East of Germany after the shocking events that recently took place in Chemnitz. In the last few days, extreme right-wing demonstrations were held in the Saxon city, sparked by the stabbing of a 35-year-old German man, allegedly by asylum seekers of Syrian and Iraqi origin. The dreadful crime was rapidly used by right wing extremists to foster a mass mobilisation of anti-immigration protests.

Following the incident, thousands of radicals from all over Germany descended on Chemnitz to take to the streets, protesting the presence of immigrants in the country and shouting slogans such as "Immigrants Out" and “This is our city”. Dozens reportedly performed the Nazi fascist salute, which is forbidden in Germany. On Sunday night, the demonstration also resulted in scenes of violence as participants split into smaller groups, and began to chase foreigners through the streets, causing serious disturbances in front of an unresponsive police force.

The events have been taking place in the eastern part of Germany, where far-right parties, such as Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD), have their greatest support base and are expected to do well in state elections, due to be held next year. The radical party has benefited from its populist opposition to Angela Merkel’s policy towards refugees, which endorsed the arrival of more than one million immigrants in Germany since 2015.

Whilst tensions in Saxony increase, the rise of the far right is also making moderate sectors of the German political spectrum more reluctant to defend the rights of immigrants and refugees.

Increasing support for extreme parties in Germany is, therefore, a challenge for the whole European continent. The perplexing atrocities that were committed in the last century have thus far shielded German politics from the extreme right. But in the last few years, it seems that extremism in Germany and other European countries is no longer hiding and its rise is worryingly set to continue growing to disturbing levels.

Photo: De Havilland/flickr