Public Actions
The Nazi march in Berlin's Spandau district, dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the death of Rudolf Hess.
In Germany, the demonstration of symbols, signs and appeals of the period of National Socialism is a criminal offense. Legislation of Nazism, praising or an attempt to rehabilitate the structures and organizations of the Third Reich of 1933-1945, and publicly expressed doubts in the Holocaust are also prosecuted according to the law. For this reason, there are relatively few cases of explicit glorification of National Socialism in the Federal Republic of Germany. The relatively narrow and well-known circle of neo-Nazis is well known. They are regularly arrested and sentenced by the courts to money fines or imprisonment.
The most massive event of neo-Nazis in 2017 with a clear national-socialist background was a march in Berlin's Spandau district, dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the death of Rudolf Hess, who committed suicide in a local prison in 1987. Among the neo-Nazis, Hess is especially revered. It is believed that he allegedly expressed his "disagreement" with Hitler regarding the war with Britain. His flight to England in 1941 is perceived as "a gesture of peace for the Aryan peoples". Right-wing extremists believe that after the conclusion of a peace agreement with London, history would have gone along a "different path", and Germany would not have been "disgraced" by the defeat of 1945.
The portrait of Hess and the stickers with his quotations are an invariable attribute of the neo-Nazi activities. His supporters believe that Hess was killed. In July 2017, about 1,000 ultra-rightists gathered for the demonstration. On the poster in front of the column was an inscription: "I do not regret anything. National Socialists of Germany." The organizers took advantage of the fact that this combination of words with such a spelling without Nazi symbols is not officially forbidden.
The demonstration did not reach its goal and was blocked by anti-fascists. The second relatively large event was the traditional February meeting of the ultra-right in Dresden, dedicated to the anniversary of the bombing of the city by the aircraft of the Western Allies in 1945. This historical fact is regularly used by right-wing radicals to show the alleged "German genocide in World War II". Several hundred ultra-rightists attended the rally. They were confronted by about 1,000 anti-fascists. One of the neo-Nazis who spoke, Gerhardttner, who had been sentenced to one and a half years in prison for neo-Nazi propaganda, called himself "a convinced National Socialist," and Nazism himself was "a model for the whole world." Against Ittner was filed another criminal case. [1]
In recent years a new phenomenon has appeared in Germany, which can not be directly called the "glorification of National Socialism", but rather an attempt to abandon the anti-fascist practice of its total condemnation as absolute evil. In fact, this is a justification of Nazism. For example, in September 2017, AfG leader Alexander Gauland stated during his election campaign: "No need to reproach us with these 12 years (1933-1945). They no longer affect our identity. And we are talking about it directly. Therefore, we have not only the right to regain our country, but also the right to regain our past." And further: "We have the right to be proud achievements of German soldiers in two world wars". The party of the SPD responded with a comment on Twitter: "Now everyone should understand how" brown " is AfG." [2]
