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NEWS > EVERYONE ELSE > SECRET GERMAN POLICE OPERATION ROUTES OUT NEO-NAZIS
SECRET GERMAN POLICE OPERATION ROUTES OUT NEO-NAZIS
March 4 2009
Berlin, Germany – The word ‘Kristallnacht’ has special meaning for many in Germany. Literally translated as the ‘Night of Broken Glass’, Kristallnacht is seen by many as the official first night of the ‘Final Solution’, the effort to eradicate Jews from the face of the planet. Though ant-Jewish legislation had been on the books for years, the first
concerted declaration of that policy and the first mass murder of German Jews took 
place that night of November 9-10. Now over 70 years later German police have decided to enact similar action against Neo-Nazis, bringing back difficult memories and putting a jackboot in the face of irony.
“The primary aim of the concerted action by crime fighting authorities is to seize and confiscate prohibited items like music in order to move effectively and extensively against the spread of right wing extremism,” said a statement from the Federal Crime
Office (BKA). “The primary aim of the concerted action by crime fighting authorities is to seize and confiscate prohibited items like music in order to move effectively and extensively against the spread of right wing extremism,”
More than 200 apartments and businesses were raided in the country wide crackdown, seizing 70 weapons, 170 computers, and 45,000 music CD’s. Kristallnacht killed 91 Jews and resulted in the arrests of 25,000 – 30,000 people. Many are attributing the gap in efficiency to the limited Neo-Nazi population and the startling efficiency of the Nazi’s versus today’s secret police.
“The extermination of Jews and other minorities in Nazi German was not an overnight thing. Ideas turned into legislation which turned into
action and that all occurred over a number of years. Part of that was mobilization of forces and power; part was a
more refined ethos; and part was the time it takes to brainwash an entire country,” said Scrape TV Historical analyst Lars Luger. “Those efforts are hindered today by a number of factors. We live in a very global world so conducting these kinds of campaigns in secret is very difficult. The German people are both more populous and much more educated than their ancestors were and that
adds to the difficulties. The advantages the German government has here is that much like the Jews in the 1930’s there is a great deal of existing hatred towards Neo-Nazis and it’s easy to exploit that kind of feeling. The Nazi’s did it spectacularly and there’s no doubt Angela Merkel has learned her lessons from them.”
Traditionally the German people have been open and accepting of their murderous past. That acceptance and the prevalence of teaching Fascist history is being pinpointed as the root of modern German efficiency at rooting out minority groups.
“We it comes to raiding homes, arresting people for their ideas, and subjecting minorities to persecution there is really no country better at it than Germany. From the Nuremberg Laws, to the Pogroms, to rooting out Neo-Nazis the German people are masters of oppressing free flow of ideas and personal liberty as they have proven once again,” said Scrape TV Racism analyst
Drake Douglas. “In this case it’s not such a bad a thing because Neo-Nazi’s are bad guys who have their own culture and identity. In the case of Jews they were good guys with their own culture and identity, so the situations are totally different.”
Jews have suffered more oppression than any other ethnic group in history, particularly in Europe. From the Phoenicians, to Charlemagne, to the Crusades, Jews have been seen as devils, unclean, or not human which has led to persecution and mass murder for centuries. The Neo-Nazi movement has been in existence since the early 1960’s and tend to yell a lot, making them sound a lot scarier than Jews who tend to speak rationally.
“Some would argue that oppression is oppression no matter who it is being directed towards. That when a government decides to take away the freedom of one group they are only steps away from taking freedom from all groups. Something like this, where very few people like the people being targeted, could be seen as Trojan horse.
Getting people used to idea of removing freedoms, even celebrating it, making it easier for them to use those tools on other groups they deem a threat,” continued Douglas. “That is the way it has been throughout human history no matter the culture or country. It may be different here though because of the experience the Germans have had with persecution. Obviously the German people are a little more sensitive to this type of thing because of their past. Their Nazi past should mean that further oppression will not happen because they obviously wouldn’t want that to happen again.”
Germany has one of the strictest set of laws in the world restricting racism and prejudice, though none of those laws were drafted in, around, or near Nuremberg.
Emil Uliya, International Correspondent
NEWS > EVERYONE ELSE > SECRET GERMAN POLICE OPERATION ROUTES OUT NEO-NAZIS
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