Lee Heidhues 7.15.2023
Lost in the headlines of America where extreme right wing sentiment is increasingly taking hold ahead of the 2024 Presidential election, the rest of the World is reeling in the onslaught of this political pandemic.
Germany is no exception as the following article in Deutsche Welle illustrates.
We will be in Berlin for several weeks later this year and will have an opportunity see for ourselves current state of right wing extremism in Germany. Mingling with the German people will provide us with insights that the media cannot replicate.
During an earlier trip to Germany we saw Alternative for Deutschland (AfD) posters in the town of Lübeck. Currently the right-wing populist AfD has 78 seats in the 736 seat Bundestag and is represented in state legislatures throughout Germany.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_for_Germany
https://www.bundestag.de/en/parliament/plenary/distributionofseats
Excerpted from Deutsche Welle 7.15.2023
“There must be no place in Brandenburg where right-wingers want to stir up fears and drive out dissenters,” said Brandenburg State Premier Dietmar Woidke.
Max Teske is barred from providing details about the far-right incidents he reported at his school. The local education authority does not want the teacher and his colleague Laura Nickel talking about it.
What Teske can say, based on conversations he has had with fellow educators across the eastern German state of Brandenburg, is that the incidents he reported are not unique.
“Hitler salutes, graffiti, sexism, homophobia. These are issues that affect all schools,” he told DW.
As a result, Teske and Nickel have announced they are leaving the school, located in Burg, a small town about 80 kilometers (50 miles) southeast of Berlin.
AfD popularity a growing cause for concern
About three months ago, the two teachers submitted an urgent letter that called out incidents at the school. Although the letter was signed anonymous, Teske said he and Nickel were targeted with threats. These included stickers that appeared near the school featuring their photos, urging them to stay away.
Using a vulgar term, the stickers told them to “go back to Berlin.” That was around the time, Teske said, they got in touch with law enforcement.
Burg is located in the Spreewald, a popular tourist destination known for its natural beauty. The area’s politics, however, are less tranquil. In the 2021 federal election, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) won more than 30% of the vote in Burg. The AfD’s popularity at local and regional levels has been a growing cause for concern among federal politicians.
In an interview with the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper, Brandenburg Education Minister Steffen Freiberg expressed sympathy for the teachers allegedly under threat, but also sounded a note of criticism. He rejected their complaint that their superiors did not give them enough support.
The news has prompted consternation in the mainstream political arena, not only in the state of Brandenburg but also among federal politicians in Berlin. President Frank-Walter Steinmeier expressed his concern about the developments at the school in Burg. “We must do everything for those who oppose populism and extremism and stand up for tolerance and democracy in this society,” his spokesperson, Cerstin Gammelin, quoted him as saying on July 13.
https://www.dw.com/en/teachers-in-eastern-germany-face-far-right-threats/a-66237849
Top photo: Alternative for Deutschland (AfD) supporters at historic Brandenburg Gate in Berlin
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