Over the past year a team of editors at the Moses Mendelssohn Centre in Potsdam has worked to compile an anthology on right-wing extremism in Brandenburg. The result is a book of over 450 closely printed pages, Rechtsextremismus in Brandenburg (Right-Wing Extremism in Brandenburg). The subtitle, "Manual for analysis, prevention and intervention" announces it as a political contribution to the fight against racism and neo-fascism.

Professor Julius Schoeps, director of the Moses Mendelssohn Centre and one of the book's editors, said they produced it, "because our Centre has a social and political mandate. It's our contribution to prevention." The anthology offers impressive and thorough analysis of right-wing extremism in Brandenburg along with practical advice and experience. Detailed listings of the main regional organizations working against racism and neo-fascism round off the picture.

"The book is a unique mixture," explains co-editor Christian Kopke, a political scientist. "We decided to combine academic research on right-wing extremism with the experience of people actively involved in preventing or combating right-wing violence, racism and hostility towards foreigners."

The first part of the book analyses the far right in Brandenburg, giving a wide-ranging, often disturbing picture of neo-Nazi political parties, extremist splinter groups and social attitudes. Young people — the main recruits to the far right scene — and the extreme right music scene get particular attention. Kopke's contribution, 'The Nationalist Movement in Brandenburg' gives an insight not only into the main parties but also the Kameradschaften ('free associations') and other small groupings that are increasingly banding together. Borrowing from the language of freedom struggles, they call themselves a "nationalist opposition" or "nationalist resistance". Reading this makes us aware of what lies beneath the shocking headlines and increasing lists of ugly incidents that the mass media continually present.

The in-depth research published in the anthology indicates that extreme right-wing activity is growing, and that increasing numbers of people are accepting racist and neo-fascist ideas. Germany's biggest far right electoral party, the NPD (German Nationalist Party) is now gaining ground in Brandenburg after a slower start than in many other regions. The book points out that a low turnout for right-wing parties at elections should not be taken as comfort — it doesn't necessarily reflect the real level of sympathy for racist or fascist ideas in the population.

The murder in 1990 of Amadeu Antonio, an Angolan worker in the Brandenburg town of Eberswalde, is mentioned several times in the book as a turning point. One of the first overtly racial murders in Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall, it shocked the nation, highlighted the growing hatred of foreigners in the region, and led to the Amadeu Antonio Foundation being set up to combat racism and anti-Semitism nationwide.

But racial crime has continued to grow in the region. Brandenburg now has the highest reported rate of racial murders in Germany and is among the top third of federal states in terms of hatred of foreigners and racially motivated crimes. All this has given the region a negative image — in common with other federal states in former East Germany, especially Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, which borders on Brandenburg.

The anthology's editors are anxious to counter their region's bad image. Kopke says Brandenburg differs from other regions in that it started setting up advice and coordination centres early on to deal with right-wing extremism. He emphasises that political structures play a vital role. "Brandenburg was governed in the 1990s by a coalition of conservatives, social democrats and the Green Party," he explains. "This broad spectrum supported a variety of anti-racist or anti-fascist initiatives from government level to grass roots. Organisations were set up and given public funding." The coalition spirit is reflected in the book, from the introduction by Brandenburg's interior minister, Jörg Schönbohm (Christian Democratic Party), to an article on right of assembly by Brandenburg's chief of police, Klaus Kandt, to essays on educational work and contributions by journalists, sociologists, educationalists, psychologists and violence prevention counsellors. The chairman of the regional football association writes on sport without racism, and there are articles by local government officials, the presiding judge at Cottbus administrative court, and an official from the ministry for education, sport and young people.

Anti-Nazi Networks

The anthology includes a useful, comprehensive appendix listing around 70 groups and institutions active against racism and neo-fascism in the region.

Right-wing extremism takes hold where political structures are weak, Kopke argues. This applies to many regions in former East Germany. "That's why it's so important to build networks to combat it. Of course, we can't measure their effect, and they haven't been able to stop the growth of right-wing extremism. But they have established a functioning network over the past 10 to 15 years, and this has raised public awareness that right-wing extremism is a serious problem that has to be tackled."

Kopke says this also affects the recording of right-wing crime. "If somebody hears young people yelling 'Heil Hitler' on the street and reports it to the police, it gets into the statistics. In Brandenburg, people are encouraged to report extreme right-wing crimes, whereas in other places they might keep silent." He points out that this also applies in the academic world. "We managed to get a large number of researchers in Brandenburg to contribute to our book. But when we asked a researcher in Saxony last year, he replied, 'I don't know anything at all about neo-Nazis — I only know about young people who dress up in costume.'

Kopke points to two organisations he sees as particularly effective on the ground. 'demos', a network of mobile counselling teams under the banner of 'tolerance in Brandenburg', is run by the Brandenburg Institute for Community Counselling. The teams operate in 7 localities including the regional capital, Potsdam. They support democratic forces in society as watchdogs, assist local campaign groups, arrange training courses for local public servants, etc. An essay on 'demos' in the book describes it as a persuasive concept.

At another level, 'Opferperspective' ('victims' perspective') works specifically to help victims of extremist violence. This includes practical assistance like accompanying victims to the police to report the crime against them, helping with legal aid and court appearances, and coping with the media. "What's important here is that the crime is seen and dealt with from the victim's viewpoint," Kopke says. "'Opferperspective' goes into the victim's locality and tries to force people there to confront the fact of the crime and its consequences." He thinks this has changed the climate in several localities, including Potsdam.

Kopke sees 'demos' and 'Opferperspective' as successful because they focus on a personal approach. They relate directly to individuals affected by right-wing extremism — while at the same time not neglecting the social and political levels.

"Living time bombs"

For all this, Kopke is sober about the present situation in the region. "There's no doubt that neo-Nazi activity has reached a high level in Brandenburg, in line with the trend in other places. It's hard to assess the extent because it often involves young people joining the far right for a couple of years, then getting fed up and leaving again."

Kopke's co-editor Gideon Botsch has described the extreme right-wing scene in the Berlin-Brandenburg region as "exceptionally brutal", with the threat of a number of "living time bombs". Some of the splinter groups Kopke describes in the anthology definitely fit this description. The anthology explains how over the years, small neo-Nazi groups have voluntarily dissolved to avoid a ban — only to enter the NPD and carry on their activities legally under its wing. In several German states, NPD delegates sit in local parliaments while the party openly supports racist and neo-Nazi activity.

Does Kopke favour banning the NPD? He answers by quoting Berlin's interior minister, Eberhard Körting: "If the NPD isn't ripe for a ban, then what is?" The NPD is undoubtedly anti-constitutional, Kopke says. There are solid legal grounds for banning it. "A ban would put a stop to the NPD's role as a reservoir for right-wing propaganda and violence," he says. He adds that there is no evidence for the tactical political argument that a ban would only reap sympathy for the NPD and encourage its supporters. "The NPD isn't well organized enough to operate effectively as an underground party. A small hard core might carry on, but many present or potential supporters would simply drift away."

What emerges clearly from the anthology is that the far right scene is highly differentiated, and the reasons why it is gaining support are complex. We have to look beyond standard explanations for the development of racism and neo-fascism in a specific region. It's not enough to cite purely economic or social factors like unemployment, poverty or lack of education. In his introductory essay, 'What is Right-Wing Extremism?' Gideon Botsch warns observers not to underestimate the extreme right as illogical or lacking in originality and aspirations. Its programmatic vagueness could actually turn out to be a source of strength for it. Botsch reminds us that Hitler resolutely banned discussions on a fixed programme in the Nazi Party precisely because this left the door open for opportunism and emotional appeals.

Right-Wing Extremism in Brandenburg shows that the battle is not just about ideology and our world view. It is about hearts as well as minds, about individual feelings and mass psychology. Nobody who wants to preserve and promote a democratic, tolerant society in Brandenburg, in Berlin, in Germany or anywhere in the world can afford to ignore the analyses and warnings in this book. Racism, anti-Semitism, neo-Nazism and other dangerous tendencies are not somewhere out there, they are right here on our doorstep — and it's not too late to stop them.

© www.mut-gegen-rechte-gewalt.de - 29.9.2007. Foto: Kulick (seen in Frankfurt/Oder)