Neo-Nazis intimidating travelers in German town

BERLIN, July 12 (JTA) — Neo-Nazis have taken control of several sites in a town northeast of Berlin, according to the German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung. The paper dispatched a correspondent to Eberswalde after neo-Nazis said they had “liberated” the town — a claim denied by German security officials. Among the correspondent’s findings: * Armed neo-Nazis patrol the town’s railway station. A cleric cited in the newspaper’s report said he had seen a group of neo-Nazis walking the platform, intimidating some 40 waiting passengers. Two Asians who appeared at the station were insulted with racial slurs. * Neo-Nazis have all but seized control of a local gas station, where they pressure people to give the Nazi salute when they come to fill up their gas tanks. Two people who refused to give the salute were admitted to a local hospital after they were beaten up. * Many youths in the town display Nazi symbols, which are banned in Germany. Some, for example, wear T-shirts with the letters “N,” “S” and “D” — the initials of the Nazi Party during the Third Reich. Some students turn in tests dated “88” rather than “98” — which is a code rather than an error in the date. “H” is the eighth letter of the alphabet, and “HH” stands for “Heil Hitler.” Eberswalde is not the only German town to fall under the domination of neo- Nazis, according to Bernd Wagner, a right-wing extremism expert who says he is receiving increasing numbers of reports from people who feel intimidated by neo-Nazi activities in their hometowns. Towns in eastern Germany with populations between 15,000 and 50,000 are especially vulnerable to the problem, Wagner said.