A sad message from Germany.

In connection with the celebrations of the German reunification ten years ago, Germany has experienced a new wave of right-wing violence that has shaken the political system and the German public. The political parties are considering banning the extreme right-wing party NPD. The roots of the problem go deeper than that, and a more profound solution is needed.

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Sadly enough, this article deals with a subject, that neither has much originality, nor is it really news. In Germany, right-wing extremists have somehow become "normal" and news about their attacks is a usual sight in the papers.

What is especially frustrating, annoying and makes me angry and sad is all the violent Nazi acts that have been committed around October 3rd – the 10th anniversary of the German reunification. There has been a fire set to a synagogue in Düsseldorf, which a courageous young woman put out on time before any serious damage occurred.

Nazi swastikas

After that, in the night from the 2nd to the 3rd Nazi swastikas were painted on the bell tower of the concentration camp Buchenwald close to Weimar. Later during the 3rd at a synagogue in Kreuzberg, Berlin the windows were broken. This is not all but those are the most prominent news of the last few weeks.

The question is of course: how do we react? What can you do in a country where right-wing extremists hurt and threaten innocent foreigners or German Jews? At a press conference one Jewish representative stated that the times are gone where Jews could feel safe in Germany.

Spontaneous demonstrations against the violence.

There have been various spontaneous demonstrations against the violence. In Buchenwald people -- mainly elderly -- laid down flowers to show that they have not forgotten about the terrors of the 2nd World War. There have been walls set up in shopping centres where people can sign against right-wing ideas. So far, some 500 000 people have signed it, including Chancellor Gerhard Schröder. Around 250 politicians in Berlin, almost all of them of Christian confession, attained a Jewish service in a synagogue to show their affinity.

Those are very valuable measures and help to show our foreign inhabitants as well as adherents of non-Christian religions that most Germans strongly oppose the Nazi crimes.

What long-term measures could be taken? For a few months already, a lively discussion has been going on whether extreme right-wing parties should be banned. Even though Nationale Partei Deutschlands (NPD) is the focus of the discussion right now, Deutsche Volksunion (DVU) and the Republikaner (Reps) could also come into consideration.

Pros and cons

There are pros and cons of a ban. First, there is the freedom of speech, the right to found political parties assured by the German constitution. Because of the bad experiences of the German people from the thirties, banning of parties is not undertaken easily. German courts only interfere if the ideas of these groups are expressed through illegal actions. As a matter of fact, it has been proven that NPD members have actually committed many of the crimes during the last months. Nevertheless, according to the convicts, their acts were not undertaken by order of the NPD.

The other reason for not banning the NPD is that it would make it more difficult to supervise potential threats to democracy (although this supervision obviously does not work very well). In addition, the incentive would be higher to take part in this group if it were illegal.

Ban the NPD.

Even if I take into consideration the points mentioned above, in my opinion it would be the best thing to set an example and ban the NPD. This would prove that the German government and the judicial system do not accept right violence or any other organised crime.

Strangely enough and as a positive surprise that is the standpoint of the Christliche Soziale Union (CSU- the Bavarian sister party of the Christian Democrats) as well. In this way the CSU wants to distance itself from the common view that sometimes the party itself is not too far away from extreme right positions.

Although the Nazi violence is not occurring exclusively in the former GDR, it is obvious that these tendencies are a proof that the German reunification is not progressing as smoothly as former Chancellor Kohl promised ten years ago. The problem goes beyond that, though. The main challenge for Chancellor Schröder and his government is to widen the political agenda so as to deal not just with the economy and how to achieve a new Wirtschaftswunder. The young generation has shown clearly enough that it needs to discuss the basic values as well.

Ellen Michel