Germany Has Increase in Neo-nazi Attacks, but Less Support for Right

The German Interior Ministry released figures last week showing that there has been a dramatic increase in the number of neo-Nazi attacks in the country.

But at the same time polls are also showing a marked decrease in support of right-wing extremist groups among the German public, according to a survey taken by one of Germany’s leading public opinion research institutes.

In the figures released by the Interior Ministry, it was shown there were 77 desecrations of Jewish cemeteries or monuments in Germany last year, more than double the number for the previous year.

The Interior Ministry, which released this figure Monday, said special measures have been taken to protect Jewish objects which may be targeted for damage by right-wing extremists.

According to the ministry, some 41,400 neo-Nazi activists are known to police, of whom 6,400 have been defined as “militant.”

But attacks against persons seem to be on the decline.

Since November, the number of attacks against foreigners has dropped considerably. In January, 70 such attacks were recorded, far less than the average for a typical month in 1992, when nearly 200 attacks occurred.

Some 90 per cent of attacks against foreigners last year were directed against asylumseekers.

And more than 70 percent of these were perpetrated by youths Only 2 percent of the known perpetrators are older than 30, the ministry said.

Interior Minister Rudolf Seiters said the number of violent racial incidents was 2,285 in 1992, up from 1,483 in 1991.

This represents an increase of 54 percent.

The statistics about right-wing extremism were gathered by the Cologne-based Federal Office for Internal Security.

17 DIED LAST YEAR IN ATTACKS

They show that in 1992, 17 people lost their lives in attacks directly attributed to neo-Nazi groups. Seven of the dead were non-Germans.

The most notable increase in violent incidents has been registered in arson and bomb attacks. In 1992, 701 such attacks were registered, compared to 383 in 1991.

In another development, the interior minister of the state of North Rhine Westphalia, Herbert Schnoor, revealed that a trade union called the German Workers Association has been infiltrated and practically overtaken by the neo-Nazi National Democratic Party, or NPD.

Despite these figures, the poll conducted by Klaus Liepelt, a pollster for Infas, showed decreased support for right-wing groups.

Speaking Saturday in Saarbrucken, Liepelt said the new pattern manifested itself in a drastic decrease in support for the Republicans, an extremist, rightist party led by Franz Schonhuber, a former SS officer.

Three months ago, the polls gave the Republicans 10 per cent or so of the popular vote, far more than the 5 percent needed for a seat in the Bonn legislature.

But polls taken in recent days indicate that the Republicans would only get 3.5 to 4 per cent, which would keep them out of the national Parliament.

The pollsters have concluded that many Germans have been irritated by the damage caused to their country’s image after the wave of violent attacks against foreigners.

Many others have become genuinely concerned that neo-Nazis would make headway into center-stage politics and would change their lives for the worse.

These concerns have been manifested in dozens of vigils against neo-Nazism and anti-Semitism.

But in the past few days, some opinion leaders have begun to criticize the daily shows of concern for the foreigners.

A popular television entertainer, Thomas Gottschalk, who initiated some of the first vigils, said the demonstrations had become a matter of fashion and nothing more.

But former Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher, writing Sunday in the newspaper Welt am Sonntag, said the vigils were still important, because they showed that people are involved and want a say in running their affairs.