“Normalization puts a strain on everyday life”
Victims’ associations are registering significantly more right-wing violence
May 21, 2024, 1:25 p.m
Victim advice centers complain about a massive increase in right-wing violence. Although only eleven federal states are considered, the number increases by more than 20 percent. The director of the Buchenwald Memorial sees the problem in the AfD, which encourages violence.
Victim counseling centers in Germany have recorded a significant increase in right-wing, racist and anti-Semitic violence in the past year. The Association of Advice Centers (VBRG) registered a total of 2,589 such attacks for 2023 – a good fifth more than in the previous year, as can be seen from the annual balance presented on. However, only 11 of 16 federal states are included in the statistics; According to VBRG, not all countries provided corresponding figures.
The advisory centers were concerned about the development. “The increase in right-wing, racist and anti-Semitic violence in 2023 has led to a dramatic expansion of the danger zones for many people,” said VBRG board member Judith Porath. “An unbearable normalization of anti-Semitism, racism and extreme right-wing ideologies in many places is burdening and changing the everyday lives of many of those affected.”
For many years, the advisory services have registered around a third more right-wing acts of violence than the law enforcement authorities and the constitutional protection offices – Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser plans to present the official statistics on politically motivated crime in the afternoon. For 2023, the VBRG criticized “once again a serious under-recording of right-wing violence by law enforcement authorities – even in the case of serious acts of violence.”
Racism and anti-Semitism have increased massively
According to victim advice centers, a total of 3,384 people were affected by the 2,589 right-wing politically motivated attacks. Racism was the dominant motive in more than half of the cases. There has been an “alarming increase” of a third in anti-Semitic attacks compared to the previous year.
The association’s annual statistics included information from the five eastern German federal states as well as from Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, Berlin, Hamburg, North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein. The development in the individual countries was therefore inconsistent; right-wing violence increased significantly in 2023, especially in Brandenburg and Saxony-Anhalt.
Measured by the number of inhabitants, the most right-wing acts of violence were registered in Berlin (8.20 per 100,000 inhabitants), Saxony-Anhalt (6.6 per 100,000 inhabitants), Brandenburg and Hamburg (5.2 per 100,000 inhabitants each) – the fewest in Bavaria (0.8 per 100,000 inhabitants) and Baden-Württemberg (0.5 per 100,000 inhabitants).
Wagner: AfD contributes to brutalization
VBRG board member Porath expressed the fear that the numbers would continue to rise – in particular, the state elections this year in three eastern German states caused her “great concern,” she emphasized. “We of course expect that the numbers will unfortunately continue to increase.” She expects “that the increase will be widespread and will affect all phenomena.”
When presenting the annual statistics, the director of the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora memorials, Jens-Christian Wagner, accused the AfD of paving the way for right-wing violence. “Unfortunately, the AfD in Germany is making a significant contribution to the brutalization of political culture – and not just online, but also on the streets,” said Wagner.
In some regions, the party has already achieved “cultural hegemony” and civil society is being intimidated, emphasized Wagner. In this atmosphere, right-wing extremists would be encouraged to commit violent acts. “A well-fortified democracy cannot stand idly by here.” The memorial director called on the Bundestag, Bundesrat and federal government to consider banning the AfD. According to him, there are many arguments in favor of such a ban.
Porath called for more decisive action by the judiciary and government against the right-wing and often complained about slow legal proceedings in cases of right-wing violence. “All too often, those affected feel abandoned by the institutions of the rule of law,” she said. “You experience a big discrepancy between the promises of politics and the reality in the investigation procedures.”