GERMANY

Right Wing Mob

Nov 2000 - 7‘16 mins

1.00

Scene - skinheads marching and drums.

Skinheads are on the march in former East Germany. ‘Germany for the Germans’ is their slogan - foreigners are not welcome.

01.14

In February 1999 right wing thugs chased an Algerian through the town of Guben. Fearing for his life, the man jumped through a glass window and bled to death.

01.25

I/V Gudrun K, mother of one of the defendants

It’s awful that two 17 year olds don’t know any better.

01.31

11 young men stand accused - their age will probably soften the punishent.

01.40

August 1999, Eggesin. At a local festival 5 extremists beat up two Vietnamese. One of the victims was in a coma for 11 days.

01.55

I/V ambulanceman

If we hadn’t intervened when we did, they wouldn’t have survived.

2.00

The NPD are the most violent of all far right parties. Debates currently rage about banning them. They have the legal right to demonstrate their views with police protection.

02.12

April 2000, Erfurt. On Adolf Hitler’s birthday a synagogue is firebombed. Three East German Neo-Nazis are responsible, leaving their trademark behind - Heil Hitler.

02.23

Even at Berlin’s Brandenburg gate the NPD are allowed to air their racist views at a rally.

02.31

June 2000, Dessau. A remembrance march for Alberto Adriano. The Mozambican father of three was brutally beaten to death. The culprits say their motive was hatred of foreigners.

02.43

Jobs for Germans first!!

02.48

Pirna, Saxony, in June. During a raid on the headquarters of a local skinhead group police find these explosives and weapons. There is racist music and Nazi memorabilia. Some of the town’s most respected citizens are behind the masked operation. Their aim is to have nationally-pure zones where foreigners have to fear for their lives.

03.12

The small town of Rathenow in Brandenburg is also hitting the headlines - there have been racist attacks there too but this time the victims have spoken up.

The refugee home is situated on the edge of town, next to the ruins of an old East Germany concrete works. About 170 people live here.

03.32

The men talk about what has happened to them in Rathenow. Christopher Nsoh from Cameroon was verbally abused at a disco.

03.45

I/V Christopher Nsoh, asylum seeker

They said’I hate you, foreigner! What are you doing here, foreigner?

03.49

Pakistani Khalid Mahmood was hospitalised after being beaten up on New Year’s Eve.

03.54

I/V Andy John, asylum seeker

They started beating me up, a group of about 10 people. Since then we’re afraid - we only go out in groups.

04.05

The men don’t feel safe beyond the boundaries of the home - and they want to get out of Brandenburg. They expressed this demand in an open letter to the authorities, which has received a lot of publicity and finally given a wake-up call to local politicians. They have other implications to consider. Unemployment is high in Rathenow, and news of racist attacks is driving investors away. The mayor is concerned about the town’s reputation and economy.

04.32

I/V Hans-Jürgen Lünser, major of Rathenow

According to police reports and investigations, what has been happening here are random, isolated incidents. We know that right-wing tendencies have brought the town into disrepute - and we do realise that we have to do something about it.

We hope that those responsible for giving Rathenow a bad name will not repeat their actions, and that if some of our citizens show support for the foreigners, this will have a positive influence and help to get the situation back to normal.

05.02

Yet normal life looks rather different for Christopher and his friends. They encounter prejudice and verbal abuse every time they walk through the town.

05.10

As far as the police know, these girls don’t belong to the extremist scene, but they still say that foreigners should go.

05.18 I/V Girl 1

They’ve got no right to be here, have they? I went to the job centre recently - there was a Turkish girl in front of me and she got a job, but I didn’t.

05.28 I/V Girl 2

We shouldn’t have to put up with it, should we? Not as Germans.

05.32

The local greengrocer hears the abuse and knows why the refugees are afraid.

05.40

I/V Greengrocer

I don’t see how people get so frustrated. Anyone looking for a job will find one - it’s a simple as that, I reckon.

05.49

Political criminologist Hans Jaschke says that xenophobia is a basis of everyday life in former East Germany.

I/V Hans-Gerd Jaschke 06.01

In the new federal states, there is a culture which is dominated by the right-wing scene, so it’s true that foreigners really are in more danger here than they are in the West.

06.13

Journalist and author Burkhard Schröder has been observing the extreme right for over 12 years. He has interviewed hundreds of victims and culprits.

06.23

I/V Burkhard Schröder

Young people in the East don’t identify with the former East Germany, because they never really experienced it, nor do they identify with the Western system - the word ‘system’ alone is like a red rag to a bull. They are looking for a third way - a national socialist one. And we’ve had that one before.

06.42

The internet is his most important research tool - it is where the right wing scene networks and organises.

06.49

I/V Schröder

In Germany there is no successful extreme right-wing party - you never know who is involved, which is what makes them so dangerous. There are thugs who just have casual contact with the scene but are not necessarily party members.

07.06

I/V Jaschke

The police failed to stop the growth of right wing violence in the early 90s, but special units are now being formed, so the pressure on the right wing scene is rising.

07.20

The police are now trying this strategy out in Rathenow. 30 officers patrol the streets at the weekend instead of just 5.

07.30

Jürgen Dziuba

Police superintendant

On the left here is the Kista pub - a notorious skinheads meeting point. We keep an eye on what’s happening here.

07.40

Looking at this scene we note that the police controls prevent immediate violence but don’t stop the everyday racism. We meet Rathenow neo-nazis and skinheads in their usual hang-outs. They don’t want to be filmed. There is no trouble in Rathenow tonight - the skinheads are on the rampage elsewhere - fighting in Magdeburg, yelling sieg-heil through the streets. For some, it is just another normal weekend in eastern Germany.

8.10 - last scene - empty streets

End insert:

Report: Birgit Schwarz

Camera: Holger Böning

Sound: Alexander Boix

Edit: Inge Albrecht