German police stand by as neo-Nazis give Hitler salute at “rock against foreigners” concert
By
Christoph Vandreier
20 July 2017
One of the largest neo-Nazi gatherings in the last decade took place in the small town of Themar in the German state of Thuringia last Saturday. More than 6,000 right-wing extremists travelled from across Europe to take part in the “Rock against foreign infiltration” festival.
The right-wing extremists obviously felt emboldened by the campaign waged by the major political parties in Germany against left-wing protesters following the G20 summit in Hamburg. It was, after all, Heiko Mas, the Social Democrat Justice Minister, who issued a call for a “Rock against the left” concert.
While the police acted brutally against peaceful demonstrators at G20 and violently broke up authorised gatherings, they acted as security forces for the attendees of the neo-Nazi festival. Even when the right-wing extremists began committing widespread acts of criminality, and used the Nazi salute and “Sieg Heil” greeting, the police refused to disperse the gathering and arrest the perpetrators.
The neo-Nazis acted extremely aggressively and made no secret of their political outlook from the outset. Die Zeit reported on one attendee who arrived at the event with an open jacket revealing a T-shirt with a swastika printed on it. Other participants wore T-shirts including “National Socialist” and “I love HTLR.” This has been documented by hundreds of sources online. Journalists were threatened and spat on.
Bands who performed included Stahlgewitter, who sing about the Wehrmacht in their songs and chant “88,” a code which means “Heil Hitler” in neo-Nazi circles. The music was interrupted by speeches from representatives of the neo-Nazi NPD,…