With the Neo Nazi marches and terrorism in Charlottesville still fresh in memory, I am reflecting on another city, where the extreme-right regularly march: Dresden, which was my first major stop after Berlin. Dresden is situated in the heartland of Sachsen, the wealthiest of the former East German state. Recently, the city rose to fame for weekly demonstrations by a German nationalist, anti-Islam, far-right political movement: the Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West ( PEGIDA). During the height of the refugee crisis, PEGIDA drew a considerable following in the Sachsen, including a Neo Nazi following. A genuine desire to understand how locals felt about the resurgent homegrown extreme right movement in their midst inspired my visit. Biking to Dresden, I biked through three former East German states, Brandenburg, Sachsen Anhalt and of course Sachsen. The towns I passed seemed quiet and forlorn; the population seemed older and skeptical at first interaction, as if guarded in the face of an outsider. Many were genuinely puzzled why a young woman would bike through their towns. The infrastructure was fabulous, testament to Germany’s post-unification investment in the East. I was curious about the marked difference in attitude towards migration and diversity between the East and West German states. In the last elections, the German’s right-wing, anti-immigration party, Alternative für Deutschland, garnered impressive gains in the terrain of the former communist German Democratic Republic (GDR): 24% of the vote in Sachsen-Anhalt, 21% in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, significantly higher than in Western states, where it ranges from 5,5% (Bremen) to 15% (Baden-Württemberg). The former Eastern states also sport higher rates of racial violence. Though only 21% of Germans live in the former GDR, over half of right wing and xenophobic attacks occur there, often in broad daylight. Last year, in Sachsen-Anhalt for example, victim support organizations for right wing violence reported right-wing 265 attacks affecting 401 victims, including 45 refugee children. Sachsen-Anhalt only hosts 2% of Germany’s refugee population. These differences between East and West are even more significant when one accounts for the small numbers of refugees housed in the former DDR. The distribution of refugees across Germany is determined by the Königsteiner Schlüssel calculus, which distributes the refugees to federal states according to their tax income and population. Consequently, East German states only take in about 16% of refugees. Sachsen, the wealthiest East German state, takes in 5% of all refugees. How could such small numbers inspire such virulent opposition? Analysts often point to historic differences between former East Germany and its democratic Western counterpart. For one, there is a different migration history. Another reason is the different approach to the Holocaust. Some cite economic reasons, but youth unemployment rates in the East have been declining faster than in the West. The Eastern economy appears robust, which discredits it as a driver of right wing populism. Differences in migration history
Differences in approaches to the Holocaust.
Which one of these factors most resonate with people, I wondered? The polarization of the differences was notable in Dresden. I observed men casually walking along the streets sporting shirts celebrating Hitler’s legacy. It wasn’t their numbers, which jolted me, but the ease with which they showed of their ideology: nobody seemed to bat an eye. When I asked my conversation partners, there was an uncomfortable chuckle and a throw away phrase, “that’s normal here.” I learned of a German term Nipster, referring to Neo Nazis, who have modernized their wardrobe to mimic the hipster look. The normalcy of Nazi symbols were discomforting and disorienting. When I asked locals about the roots of the strong extreme rights culture, locals focused on the early 1990s: they described a disorienting loss of civic structures in unified Germany. Neo-Nazis were the first to organize in this vacuum. The extreme right thus offered some stability and community. People talked about how the local and federal intelligence failed to take the right-wing threat seriously. Germany has both federal and state bureaus focused on protecting democracy, called Verfassungsschutz (which translated to protection of the constitution). They gather intelligence on threats concerning ‘the democratic order, the existence and security of the federation or one of its states, and the peaceful coexistence of peoples.’ However, they were slow to respond to organizations, such as The National Socialist Underground, a far-right German terrorist group responsible for a series of murders of immigrants. The counter movement is also visible in Dresden. In PEGIDA’s heyday, the counter-demonstrations drew masses that dwarfed PEGIDA's numbers. Now, the counter-marches are much smaller. People said that direct confrontation did not appear to be the most productive strategy for change. Instead, activists focus on pro-active measures to welcome refugees. For example, Dresden has welcome cafes for refugees, in which German and refugee families mingle socially to facilitate integration. Shops sport derisive signs saying Neo Nazis are not welcome, indicating that businesses are taking a firm stance. Those, who march, find non-violent and humorous ways to de-legitimize the extreme right. These efforts were inspiring. I left Dresden feeling that the city is changing, and that its people are engaged in the process. Finally, with Charlottesville still fresh, I also want to underline that there are also differences in the U.S. and German situation: in the face of PEGIDA’s hate speech, the German political leadership shows no equivalence. Major parties of all shades continuously and vehemently condemn any speech that foments xenophobia or condones violence. Glorification of past violence is remains off-limit in the political mainstream. Germany's commitment to learning from the past in order to foster a civic culture for the future ensures that the extreme right remains at the margins of political culture. Finally, bearing arms at public demonstrations would be unfathomable.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorThe thoughts of a passionate biker, migrant, humanist and human rights expert on the current migration waves in Europe. Archives
July 2017
Categories |