Neo-Nazis on the Rise Across Eastern Germany

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Neo-Nazis march in Berlin on May 1, 2010

This post is in partnership with Worldcrunch, a new global-news site that translates stories of note in foreign languages into English. The article below was originally published in Die Welt.

With the help of Saxony's Special Commission on Right-Wing Extremism (Soko Rex), four young neo-Nazi men were arrested shortly before Christmas Eve 2010 on suspicion of murder and causing grievous bodily harm.

Three of the men had allegedly beaten up two guests at the La Notte dance bar in Görlitz on Oct. 23, 2010. The attacks were brutal. A beer glass was deliberately smashed into the right eye of one of the victims, leaving his eye virtually blind. The second victim's jaw was broken in several places.

Two of the accused allegedly took part in another attack, in which they used pepper spray and sticks against two supposed leftists.

According to excerpts of a new report obtained by Die Welt, which will be officially presented in Berlin on Friday, acts of violence perpetrated by right-wing extremists, such as attempted murder, bodily harm, arson and disturbance of peace, have surged in eastern Germany.

Overall, the number of right-wing extremists has fallen and presently stands at 25,000. However, the number of neo-Nazis who are prone to violence has increased by 600 to 5,600. Among militant neo-Nazis is a group called the Autonomous Nationalists, which has 1,000 members. They function as the mirror opposites of left-wing "autonomists," known in Germany as the antifascists — they even copy the latter's way of dressing in black hoodies, black baseball caps and sunglasses.

According to the report, both sides regularly engage in street fights. In 2010, the right-wingers injured 232 left-wingers, while the left-wingers injured 308 right-wingers.

Anti-Semitism is the link that binds all right-wing extremist groups. The report says that 1,166 criminal offenses were due to underlying "extremism or anti-Semitism." In addition to acts of violence, the report says, there were 16,375 politically motivated criminal acts in 2010 by right-wing extremists of which 11,384 involved displaying swastikas or giving the Nazi salute.

Read the complete article at Die Welt.

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