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Why Is Eastern Germany So Far Right?
[New York Times] BERLIN ‐ On. Oct. 3, Germans celebrated Reunification Day, the moment when, 28 years ago, the former East and West Germany became one nation again. And yet this year, instead of celebrating our unity, there is a growing sense of estrangement. East and west are drifting apart again.A few weeks ago, a young man was stabbed to death at a city festival in Chemnitz, a city in eastern Germany; afterward two asylum seekers were arrested in connection to the attack. Large demonstrations broke out around the city, dominated at times by hundreds of right-wing extremists. Some raised their hands in the Hitler salute; journalists and counterdemonstrators were verbally and physically attacked; a mob threw stones at the owner of a Jewish restaurant. Similar demonstrations broke out in Köthen, a town of 30,000 inhabitants in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt. And on Monday, the police arrested seven men accused of planning attacks on politicians and foreigners on Wednesday. These events are not random. While violent crimes committed by right-wing extremists are down from 2016, they are still far more frequent in the five eastern German states than in the west, according to the annual report of Germany’s interior secret service. And then, there are the polls. The eastern states of Brandenburg and Saxony will both hold elections next September. For both states, pollsters predict record results for the far-right populist Alternative for Germany party. Posted by: Besoeker 2018-10-04 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=524722 |