Tuesday, August 22, 2006

How some neo-nazis do business in Germany

An 'interesting' article from der spiegel It left me wondering why the neo-nazis can't be sued for fraud.

It's a game that has been repeated across Germany in recent months and years: The radical right announce that they are preparing to buy some piece of real estate to establish a training center or right-wing convention hall; the locals take to the streets to protest against the plan; and local politicians then do what they can to buy the over-priced properties before the neo-Nazis can. It's a game that is currently being played in the town of Delmenhorst, located not far from Bremen in northern Germany. Residents there have collected almost €1 million in an effort to prevent neo-Nazis from buying a hotel located right in the center of the town.

Their stated motivation ... Rieger (a lawyer in Hamburg who often represents prominent neo-Nazis) admits to having played this game before. Two years ago, an NPD member expressed interest in buying a building in the Lower Saxony village of Verden -- as an agent of Rieger's. Immediately, a citizens' group collected €230,000 and bought the building with the support of the town. "Of course I never wanted the hall," Rieger said later. "We were angry with the building authority and we wanted to antagonize the town of Verden."

2 comments:

Kay Cooke said...

BTW ryn after I commented last ...t would be good to meet when you come over - I'm sure it can be arranged easlily. Something to look forward to.

Di Mackey said...

Okay, sounds good :)

Does Nova still make really good coffee in their Octagon cafe?