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Change of Climate in East Germany Bringing Neo-nazis out in the Open

January 1, 1990
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The reunification of Germany may not be an immediate prospect. But neo-Nazis on both sides of the crumbling Berlin Wall are losing no time.

The official East German news agency, ADN reported last Friday that neo-Nazi groups in East Germany have contacted their West German counterparts for mutual support and to coordinate their activities.

The news agency estimates there are as many as 1,100 neo-Nazi activists in East Germany.

But in recent weeks, many reports have surfaced of neo-Nazi incidents, and fear has been voiced that it may be out of control.

Scholars and experts on the subject are warning of an upsurge of extreme right-wing violence, ADN reported.

Last week, an East German memorial to Soviet soldiers killed in World War II was desecrated with swastikas and nationalist slogans.

The East German Jewish community newspaper Nachrichtenblatt called on the authorities to take swift action against neo-Nazis.

The old regime in East Germany officially denied anti-Semitism existed in the German Democratic Republic, which it depicted as a progressive nation of anti-fascist workers and farmers.

In October, the East German media published for the first time a report that a Jewish cemetery desecration was under police investigation.

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