Isabel Roy
In Germany, the number of right-wing extremist crimes has not diminished. The number of right-wing, politically motivated crimes has risen steadily since 2001, reaching a maximum of 23,555 in 2016. Since then, the numbers have declined only slightly and were significantly above 20,000 both in 2017 and 2018.
There was a dramatic year-on-year increase in anti-Semitic and xenophobic offences in 2018. Both rose by one-fifth—anti-Semitic crimes from 1,504 to 1,799 and xenophobic offences from 6,434 to 7,701. On average, there were 26 offences against immigrants or Jews each day. Well over 1,000 of the right-wing offences were violent crimes; over 500 were directed against politicians.
In addition, it has recently become known that in the first half of 2019, 8,605 criminal offences (including 363 violent crimes involving at least 179 injured) have already been committed, an increase of more than 900 compared to the same period in 2018.
Following the murder of Kassel district president Walter Lübcke on June 2, there was a bomb threat on June 23 to the headquarters of the Left Party in Berlin-Mitte and a day later, an attack on Left Party local politician Ramona Gehring in Zittau. The bomb threat in Berlin-Mitte was claimed by “Combat 18,” a right-wing terrorist network that is linked with the alleged Lübcke murderer Stephan Ernst.
The figures above are from the federal Ministry of the Interior (as of May 14, 2019) in answer to a parliamentary question tabled by the Left Party. Comparing the figures with data from independent victim counselling centres reveals a major discrepancy. In 2018, these organisations registered an increase in extreme right-wing violence from 1,394 in 2017 to 1,495 cases in 2018 in seven federal states alone (Berlin, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Pomerania, North Rhine-Westphalia, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein and Thuringia).
Berlin in particular is a hotspot of right-wing extremist crime. ReachOut, the Berlin counselling centre for victims of right-wing, racist and anti-Semitic violence, documents a total of 309 attacks in 2018. Those injured, threatened and stalked numbered at least 423 people, including 19 children and 47 adolescents. Most attacks resulted in personal injury (157) and grievous bodily harm (115). According to the organization, this is a “worrying increase” compared to the 267 attacks in 2017.
The Research and Information Centre Anti-Semitism Berlin (RIAS Berlin) registered a total of 1,083 anti-Semitic incidents in Berlin, an increase of 14 percent over the previous year. These included 46 attacks, 43 targeted property damage, 46 threats, 831 cases of injurious behaviour (including at 48 meetings) and 117 anti-Semitic letters.
It is particularly striking that the number of anti-Semitic attacks in the home area of those affected has more than doubled, which means that right-wing extremists are targeting the victims in their neighbourhoods.
The report also highlights the case of far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) member Andreas Wild, who was wearing a blue cornflower on November 9 at the commemoration ceremony of the Nazi attacks on Reichspogromnacht. This flower is a historical symbol of the anti-Semitic and extreme German nationalist “Schönerer movement.”
In Berlin-Neukölln there has been a sustained series of right-wing-extremist attacks since summer 2016. The Mobile Advice Centre Against Right-Wing Extremism Berlin (MBR) has recorded 55 attacks. Those affected include residents who engage and express themselves against the right-wing. These include threatening graffiti on and in residential buildings, throwing stones and paint bottles through windows, other property damage and arson attacks. In addition, the theft of 16 cobblestones has been attributed to the same circle of offenders but were not counted as attacks. Counselling staff also became a victim of threats in March of this year.
The most prominent victims of the series of attacks in Neukölln include:
* The Social Democratic Party (SPD) faction leader of the Neukölln district council, Mirjam Blumenthal, whose car was set alight on January 13, 2017.
* Left Party politician Ferat Kocak, whose car went up in flames on February 1, 2018.
* The bookseller Heinz Ostermann, whose car was also set on fire on February 1, 2018. This was already the third attack against the owner of the Leporello bookstore, where events against right-wing populism and racism take place. In December 2016, the windows of the bookstore were smashed and in January 2017 a car set on fire.
No one has been charged with any crime in this series of attacks in Neukölln. In some cases, including the attack on Mirjam Blumenthal, the investigation was even stopped.
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