0:00:01:24
Let us all strive for this purpose
Brotherly with heart and hand!
0:00:12:08
It is awful, reprehensible, and perverse, handing your people over to their destruction.
0:00:19:11
Bloom in the splendor of this happiness, flourish, German fatherland…
0:00:30:18
I do not want to live in a country where one day Sharia law will be in force.
0:00:41:09
Those people arrive here exhausted and dehydrated. Why not help them? For me that’s normal.
0:00:54:00
It reminds me of the Second World War. We know these images of travelling refugees, we have seen this also with persecuted Jews. A German Chancellor has no other option.
0:01:09:15
Merkel must go! Merkel must go!
0:01:12:23
The entire government pretends we are still burdened by the guilt of '45.
0:01:18:22
Feelings of guilt. Absolutely. That old image still haunts us.
0:01:27:18
VO: We are on a roadtrip through a divided Germany,. We’re driving along the border with Austria, where every day thousands of refugees are arriving. They are welcomed by volunteers.
0:01:38:16
-Why are you helping the refugees?
-Because someone needs to help them. Someone has to take care of those people. I want them to get warm clothes. They are cold, dirty...
0:01:51:09
VO: But we are also driving through a Germany that wants to close its borders immediately, so that no more refugees can enter.
0:01:58:22
Multiculturalism has failed. Completely failed.
0:02:03:23
A government is obliged to act in the interests of its own people. And not for people who come here from all over the world.
00:02:14:03
Germany can easily handle it!
0:02:18:01
VO: If we go back a few months, this song, titled the "Merkel Song," was a viral internet hit with its accompanying dance. It was summer, the weather was good and Germany showed its best side. The war in Syria led to a massive flow of refugees.
0:02:32:22
Germany! Germany!
0:02:34:15
VO: And in the first week of September, Germany opened its borders. The hospitality was widespread and Germany spoke proudly of its welcoming culture.
0:02:43:02
Germany can easily handle it!
0:02:47:02
You felt that spirit. I was so proud of it.
0:02:52:12
It was so positive, and I think Germany itself was a little surprised at how positive we were perceived, and at what we are able to do.
0:03:02:08
VO: And at the height of this positivity, the Chancellor announced that all refugees were welcome.
0:3:11:10
VO: "Wir Schaffen Das" or "We Will Succeed". The Chancellor was portrayed as a Mother Theresa figure, or “Mutti Merkel”.
Merkel remix: We will succeed. We will succeed.
0:03:28:10
Say it loud and clear: refugees are welcome here.
0:03:34:02
VO: Germans were proud that so many people wanted to come to their country. This hasn't always been the case. Angela Merkel referred to Germany’s loaded history.
0:03:44:09
The world sees Germany as a country of hope and opportunity. And this has surely not always been the case.
0:03:52:21
VO: There was even a special television fundraiser for Refugees, for which Germans dug deeply into their pockets.
0:03:58:22
People are fleeing, Germany helps out. It's only six words, but these words sum up what we are trying to achieve with this broadcast today at ZDF.
SONG: You'll never be at home, if you don't have anyone who...
0:04:20:17
Anke Plaettner - Presenter, Phoenix Runde
0:04:18:04
That all happened in an exuberance, before it became clear that it also involved a number of problems. And that we needed to do more than simply say they were welcome. And this notion shifted at a certain moment.
0:04:34:23
They come, bursting with testosterone and fantasies of conquest. The less resistance they encounter here, the more impertinent their demands become, and the greater their contempt for us.
0:04:49:24
VO: And now, four months and a million refugees later, there seems to be little remaining of that welcoming culture. There is talk of a refugee crisis, and calls for the resignation of the once so popular Angela Merkel.
0:05:04.18
Merkel must go, Merkel must go.
0:05:11:09
Tatjana Festerling
Pegida
0:05:11:12
It's Merkel who has fuelled this refugee crisis. She truly is solely responsible. She is the most dangerous woman in Europe.
She has to go immediately.
0:05:23:13
VO: We visit the city of Dresden located in the former GDR. It's a city with high-rise flats, high unemployment and it is also the birthplace of PEGIDA.
0:05:34:11
No Sharia in Europe!
0:05:38:21
VO: These are the Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the West, or against the Islamization of Europe and Germany. Every Monday around 10,000 supporters convene downtown in the city, and they are not afraid of inflammatory rhetoric.
0:05:55:08
Stop Friday prayer and Quran lessons in Arabic.
0:06:02:00
VO: Their leader is Lutz Bachmann, who is best known for this picture. Bachmann himself claims that the picture has been photoshopped by the media, and he now refuses to give interviews. Pegida often talk of the lying press, and they made that very clear to us.
0:06:18:06
Lying press! Lying press!
0:06:23.14
VO: It is not easy to talk to protestors or the leaders of Pegida.
0:06:27:16
I am going to tell others about that camera!
0:06:29:12
Get that camera away. (swearing)
0:06:31:04
VO: Yet we manage to talk to the party’s second in command, Tatjana Festerling, a woman who loves to speak in provocative terms.
0:06:38:21
Even the people we are dealing with here, the infantile, Gutmenschen (good – people) - even they must have imagined everything to be a bit simpler. I anyway feel like they are celebrating themselves above anything else. They are in fact having a big Refugees Welcome party.
0:06:56:08
Say it loud, say it clear: Refugees are welcome here.
0:07:01:02
VO: But Dresden also still holds the feeling of the late summer. The hospitality, the open borders and the cries of 'We Will Succeed'. So every Monday evening there is also a counter demonstration. Against, in their eyes, the hate mongers of Pegida.
0:07:21:09
Silvio Lang
Dresden Nazifrei
0:07:17:13
Pegida is a movement of racists which promotes chauvinism and nationalism out on the street. But racism is their common denominator. Propagating a placement of the own race above others. Because of that we need to show resistance on the street.
0:07:37:10
The headscarf is an ideological symbol of political Islam and oppression. There is no place for this in the entire public space.
0:07:50:05
VO: There are now a number of lawsuits pending against Tatjana Festerling: for slander, inciting public uprising, and defaming the chancellor. But still they stand - firmly against the grain.
0:08:03:17
The people did not authorize her to create a whole new nation. She has no right to mix the German people, to create a new peoples, influenced by Islam. She does not have the legitimate power to do so.
0:08:17:00
You called her the most dangerous woman in Europe.
0:08:20:02
Yes she is. Merkel is the most dangerous woman in Europe. She is putting the peace within Europe at risk with her capricious actions.
0:08:33:18
VO: The river Inn acts as a natural border between Austria and Germany. Crossing it takes less than a minute by car, but for many refugees this is the end of a long journey, which has often taken months.
0:08:53:08
VO: After Angela Merkel opened the border the flow of refugees increased enormously. But across the border people were not prepared to receive them. Many refugees roamed the streets for days, without food or drink.
0:09:08:00
We begun to organise privately. Approximately 30-40.000 refugees came in just over 6 weeks. We started by providing soup, tea, and toast...
- All self-funded?
- Indeed.
0:09:25:00
VO: Since then, the means of response have improved tremendously. There is extensive support from the army, the Red Cross and from German volunteers. They are now taking in up to 50 people in per hour. But back in September it was very different.
0:09:52:11
Bruna Matera-Lauf
Volunteer
0:09:41:13
Up to 500 people would stand in this space .Emotionally, I suppose it was the hardest thing I've ever experienced, because you see so much. We see children with ballooning bellies, children who’ve lost their parents, pregnant women, a girl of four with a thick blood bump, children with clefts in the feet. We have seen so much that I can’t express it with words, because I haven’t really come to terms with it myself.
0:10:29:13
Yet another bus, which is going to be filled up. Up to 46 people fit in one bus. These people form a queue here.
0:10:39:20
Ms. Merkel said at the time, as a human being, we can deal with this. In the end, she is human, and humans can often say spontaneous things that be later proved wrong. But I personally think we could succeed.
00:10:58:20
VO: To put this in context: Every day Germany takes in as many refugees as the Netherlands does in a month.
And now the process is a lot smoother. Buses of refugees come from Austria. The refugees then get a safety check, their luggage is checked and their fingerprints are taken in order to register them. If everything is in order, they are given food and drink by volunteers.
0:11:34:03
- Where are you from?
- Iraq.
- Iraq. Long journey?
- One month.
- The trip lasted a month?
- With children?
- Yes, my children are there.
0:11:48:16
Parents give their children the feeling of: we have arrived. That is the impression we get from most people.
0:11:59:07
In Iran, they kill us. When we got the chance to come to Germany for freedom and a good life, we went to Germany.
0:12:14:17
- What dream do you have in Germany?
- A better life. Very simple.
0:12:21:11
VO: A new country with new opportunities. There is a question I desperately want to ask them. Do these refugees know that a large proportion of Germans are not happy about their arrival?
0:12:32:12
- There are Germans who are afraid of all these asylum seekers who are coming. Do you understand their fear?
- A little. Because it is all about the media and how they portray us. Some people are afraid of what they see on TV and in the media. About bombings, killings. I don't blame them, but if they get to know us they will see we are good people.
0:13:02:02
I cook semolina or rice pudding at home and bring it here. The people who work here eat it. And the refugee children too, of course.
0:13:15:23
Previously, they were afraid of the Italians. Then came the Greeks, they were scared of them too. With Pegida supporters it's just a little stupidity. They have forgotten what East Germany was like 25 years ago. Because during that time we helped them too. We bought bananas and gave them to the children.On the street or in the parking lot, as they drove up in their Trabbis (GDR car). Apparently they’ve forgotten that.
0:13:43:17
VO: From the border, the refugees are taken by bus to a town called Passau, where they sometimes have to stay a few nights before they continue by train to be resettled across Germany.
0:13:57:20
How many people are travelling alone?
0:14:01:17
VO: The men traveling without their wives and children undergo extra questioning.
0:14:07:10
Morocco?
VO: And for those who need it, there is medical assistance and warm clothes.
0:14:15:19
Why are you helping the refugees?
0:14:19:01
Because someone needs to help them. Someone needs to take care of them. I want them to get warm clothing. They’re cold, they're dirty...they’ve fled war. We have no choice but to help them. I don't think we have to be afraid. We have to be afraid of people attacking shelters. That's what scares me. These refugees do not – who would scare me? A baby? I'm not afraid.
0:14:49:18
When I ask the name of this caring volunteer she would not give it to me. She was worried about the reactions of the other side, as she called them. She has been threatened because she helps refugees. Yet she still wants to help.
0:15:03:00
It's just humanity. It has nothing to do with being a German.
They are people, children, just like us. Why would you not help them? We also help Germans, we do not only help refugees. We help everyone in need, in my mind that's a duty of compassion. It is also part of being a Christian. Charity and compassion, I think those are important.
0:15:42:01
- Where are you from?
- Syria. Long journey?
- One month.
- One month. You must be happy to be in Germany.
- I love the Germans. I can tell that the Germans are intelligent.
0:16:00:03
VO: But among the volunteers there are some who are critical about this mass influx. This woman is anxious about the reaction of her colleagues and doesn’t want to speak to us during work. Instead we meet her in the café round the corner.
0:16:19:21
Ursula Bachhuber
Volunteer
0:16:12:06
- What do you think of the large stream of refugees?
- I find it frightening. We do not know who is coming or how many of them. Even the government admits that not everyone is registered. Many step off the bus and disappear during a bathroom break. Or they jump off the train somewhere. Many have not been registered. We do not know who is coming, that's frightening.
0:16:42:03
- You do not agree with the influx, but you still volunteer.
- I believe that If they do come, we must make the best of the situation.
- Is that a paradox?
- For many people, but not for me. You get to know the people, and how it really is. And only a few know estimate the situation in a realistic manner.
- And what is realistic in this situation?
- One problem is that refugees have unrealistic expectations about Germany. Some think that Germany needs them. In conversations you hear that they think we are going to build houses for them. That is impossible. It gets bad when they find it is not the case. They are disappointed that Germany can not meet the expectations.
0:17:35:06
SONG: Berlin, Berlin, you are so wonderful... Berlin...
0:17:42:12
VO: With more than 1.5 million Muslims, Berlin is the epitome of the multi-cultural Germany of which Merkel often speaks. Some neighborhoods have more mosques than churches. But here too there is talk of tan Islamization of Germany.
0:17:56:14
There are whole streets where only Turks and Arabs go, and if you go – as a German – you'll get looked at.
0:18:06:11
VO: No city is as left-wing as Berlin, the saying goes. But here, too, a shift is taking place. There is a new political party emerging, the AfD. The Alternative Fuer Deutschland. They have disassociated themselves from many mainstream parties by speaking out against recent migration policies.
0:18:26:05
If every day 10 000 are coming into Germany, that’s three million in a year,. That means we cannot cope with that. 1.5 million this year, next year 2 or 3 million...that is too much. Merkel should have said long ago that Germany has already taken in 1.5 million, probably by the end of this year, and there is no more room. Sweden have closed their borders and that needs to happen here. Otherwise, there will be unrest.
0:18:54:16
VO: And this unrest is visible in the polls. The AfD made serious gains in the last elections. The political elite disagrees, but they call themselves the third most important party in Germany: After the coalition parties CDU and SPD.
0:19:10:09
Everybody is saying: where are we going to leave them during winter? They can not all stay in the gym.
And we don’t have the houses for such large numbers.
0:19:15:20
Gunter Brinker
Alternative For Deutschland
0:19:20:00
- And your party says…
- We say it clearly:
- There are too many. The borders should be closed and guarded. For the good of Germany and for the benefit of foreigners who are hoping to come. Because they will be disappointed and therefore they may become radicalized.
0:19:43:12
VO: There are 1.5 million Muslims living in Berlin, and within a few years there will be more Muslims than Christians in the city. When sitting in a Turkish café you will most likely hear Es Salaam Eilekum instead of good day, but is that a bad thing? The owner of this café is a proud German and a Muslim.
0:20:04:09
We are of the second generation. We are Germanized, I am also a German citizen. I am Muslim, but in Germany I behave just like all German citizens.
0:20:10:07
Songul Donmez
Turkish Cafe Owner
0:20:27:14
Muslims, too, are scared that Germany is changing. In a way that muslims or even people who simply look different are being discriminated against. This has started happening again after the attacks in Paris. There are Muslim women wearing headscarves being attacked. There was an attack on a mosque in western Germany. These things happen again and again after a terrorist attack. That's why we worry about the future of Germany.
0:20:49:22
Ender Cetin
Sehitlik Mosque President
0:20:59:00
VO: Ender Cetin is a Berliner born and bred. He feels the general tone in his city is turning against Muslims. Ender blames parties like Pegida and Alternative fuer Deutschland.
0:21:14:05
I want that my children, who will hopefully stay in Germany, and other Muslims to be accepted in a natural manner. Society is becoming more divided. There are many Germans in Solidarity with us, but it is getting more polarized. You can also feel an increase in fear and hostility. We have to do something about it.
0:21:40:21
VO: And the influx of thousands of Muslims every day puts the debate even further on edge. Many of these new refugees want to live in neighborhoods such as Berlin’s Neuköln, because this is where they feel at home quickest.
0:21:54:17
- Why is there this fear of our religion? If I am Muslim, I am Muslim.
-They are afraid that there are too many refugees.
- Then they have to start refusing people and say: Stop, there is no more room.
- You believe that?
- Of course. Why not?
- Are there are too many?
- Exactly. Where are we going to put them? Germany has so many unemployed people already. If they are still there we should first think what to do with these people.
- Also in Neukoln there is not always space.
- Definitely not in Neukoln. If a refugee wants to rent a studio apartment, it would cost 600 to 700 euros a month. A refugee cannot afford that. We can't even afford that.
00:22:44:08
VO: An interesting view, especially from a woman who came to Germany as a six year old girl, and a view that is certainly not widely supported in politics. This is still due to the legacy of the Second World War, according to Alternative fuer Deutschland.
0:23:00:07
Subconsciously it plays a part although no one will say it out loud. You can say never again say that you want to exclude a group. People say "first the Jews, now the foreigners". But the comparison is madness. Guilt does certainly play a role.
0:23:22:22
VO: There is no town in Germany where the past is as palpable as in Berlin. The Reichtsag where Hitler once sat is still standing, and the Holocaust memorial was built right in the center of the city. Mikko Stubner grew up in West Berlin and he thinks the feeling of guilt has been passed down to his generation.
0:23:46:21
As a German these images of course send shivers down your spine. You think: Yes, it was justified that Berlin looked like it did after the war. Because this caused that. And as they say, history is written by the victors. In this case, it is true that after the Second World War, there were plans to re-educate Germany. We were all taught in school that what happened in Germany between 1933 and 1945 was horrible. Everyone who went to school during this period knows this.
0:24:27:16
Mikko Stubner
Resident, Berlin
0:24:32:05
- You're third generation. Why so much guilt?
- I actually do not know. It's just engrained in you. You are ashamed and think: What's worse? Those who marched along or those who lined the streets to cheer? In the past century two wars were started on Germany soil. The last of the two ended 70 years ago, which really is not a long time. Many people who are still alive have experienced it, perhaps not many who have actively fought in it, and yet we know or knew many of these people. For this reason alone, as a German, we cannot refuse these refugees with a clear conscience.
0:25:20:03
Welcome everyone, And a warm welcome to you Madam Chancellor.
0:25:25:02
-The whole world wants you to admit that we cannot succeed in this after all; that we cannot take in hundreds of thousands or even millions of refugees.
- Are they right?
-Can we not succeed?
0:27:46:04
We can succeed, I am firmly convinced.
0:25:49:12
VO: From the 'Welcoming culture' to a 'Refugee Crisis'. It is a topic that has dominated the German Press. We spoke to Anke Plaettner, presenter of an important German talk show.
0:26:02:12
Merkel and the refugee crisis, Angela Merkel between giving emergency help and pulling the emergency brake. That is our subject today at the Phoenix Runde. A warm welcome.
0:26:11:12
VO: What is noticeable, is that the two sides are becoming increasingly polarised.
0:26:16:12
The tone hardens. You also see that all newspapers and other media are withdrawing the ability to comment on their Facebook pages. With online articles on the subject the comment section are disabled because of all the abuse and the negativity.
0:26:24:04
Anke Plaettner
Presenter, Phoneix Runde
0:26:40:20
- <Die Frankfurter Allgemeine> is also very intense, I find. It is quite negative about the refugees, and we have to watch out for that. It is engrained in us Germans: the cry of "never again." For the first time ever, I can comprehend how the persecution of the Jews could have happened. I can feel, for the first time, how negative reporting can be and how powerful hatred can be. That's what I'm worried about. And this is also a task for the media.
- To avoid these strong emotions.
- To remain a degree of objectivity.
0:27:24:08
We are the people.
We are the people.
00:27:30:08
VO: In Dresden, Pegida convene at the theater square, a square that was at one point known as Adolf Hitler Square., drawing an easy link to World War Two.
0:27:43:16
It fits perfectly - they stand in the square that in 1933 was called Adolf Hitler Square, and where the NSDAP held large gatherings. There they now stand again, once more brandishing their German flags.
0:27:57:07
But what is so terrible in what I do? I stand with the microphone and practice my basic right to free speech, holding up a mirror to society. And you cannot stand what you see in it.
0:28:13:15
The Germans have always let themselves be intimidated. You were always beaten round the ears with that Nazi bat. And the Germans anxiously pull in their heads. But with Pegida, for the first time a citizens' movement has emerged which is unscrupulous about our past in a positive way. I've already lost my job because I wanted to express my opinion. I was torn apart by the press last year. We're saying for the first time: we do not care. We will continue with our mission.
0:28:54:21
VO: PEGIDA is seen as an East German phenomenon that is spreading further across the country. We visit a demonstration in the Ruhr, in the city of Duisburg.
0:29:08:08
He who does not love Germany, has to leave Germany!
0:29:18:00
VO: It is a mixed group: older men, housewives, and some younger people, who call themselves 'hooligans against salafists'. A group that occasionally has violent encounters with the 'other side', the counter protestors.
0:29:30:00
Get that camera out of here.
00:29:36.00
VO: Pegida is united by a fear of foreigners and anger at the leader of their country.
0:29:40:18
We will ensure that Mrs. Merkel steps down, and as quickly as possible.
0:29:47:11
We will not succeed. That woman has lost all sense of reality.
0:29:51:03
There are 500 million Africans (only Africans!) ready with their suitcases packed and that will tear Europe apart. The politics of open borders can only end in a catastrophe.
0:30:03:06
Germany can easily handle it!
0:30:06:12
VO: Let's return to the woman who was so immensely popular this summer, that she had her own Merkel song. She has to defend her open border policy, and the phrase 'we will succeed' more and more every day.
0:30:18:15
I have no doubt. Suppose we say all together: We can’t do it. What then?
0:30:28:11
VO: But she also still has supporters.
0:30:32:16
I can only say: I'm okay with it, I think we can handle it.
0:30:36:11
If there are eighty people sitting in a pub, and one more comes in, no one complains that it’s too full now.
0:30:41:11
VO: But many of the volunteers, who have supported Merkel from the beginning, voice their criticisms about the continued flow of asylum seekers, which does not appear to be stopping.
0:30:50:01
It is a humanitarian disaster in every way. You help, you try your best, you do things, but basically you can not stop this humanitarian disaster. There are too many people. You are busy day and night.
00:31:14:01
VO: Germany is becoming a country of two camps, pitted against each other and becoming increasingly vocal and aggressive.
0:31:21:01
Allow us, in a moment together to sing our national anthem all together, from the depths of our soul! Thank you! Unity and justice and freedom. For the German fatherland
0:31:37:21
VO: Pegida concludes every meeting with the national anthem. In it they sing of national harmony, but what is left of that?
0:31:48:20
What worries me is this gap in our society. The enmity between the Germans. The prejudices grow when one side speaks of racists, extremists and nazis who hate foreigners, which not the case – it's just that there are too many. The other side then speaks of the naive Gutmenschen. Because of these accusations there is no more dialogue.
0:32:22:09
That is a very dangerous situation and it will not help us
to solve these problems.