The police force of the central German town of Fulda was harshly criticized by both Jewish and governmental leaders for letting 500 neo-Nazis march in a parade honoring Rudolf Hess, Adolf Hitler’s deputy.
The neo-Nazi march took place Saturday after police in several federal states banned neo-Nazi demonstrations scheduled to mark the death of Hess six years ago.
Police throughout Germany arrested more than 30 neo-Nazi activists while blocking roads to deny access to suspected demonstration sites.
But a large number of the right-wing extremists finally managed to gather in Fulda, where they promptly started a demonstration.
The Jewish community of Germany is calling for an investigation into how the demonstrations were able to take place.
Ignatz Bubis, chairman of the German Jewish community, said Monday that left-wing activists attempting to demonstrate against the neo-Nazi marchers had been stopped by the Fulda police, who in turn protected the right-wing extremists.
On Sunday, a number of members of the Bundestag protested the failure of the Fulda police to prevent the neo-Nazi march.
The opposition Green Party called for the resignation of Fulda’s police chief and said it would request a Bundestag debate on the ineffectiveness of the police.
“We cannot tolerate the idea that Nazi marches are legal in this country and even enjoy police protection,” a Green Party spokesman said.
Authorities in Fulda defended their behavior, saying the march was a “spontaneous” event rather than an organized rally.
They said the police were not equipped to deal with the large number of neo-Nazi activists, and stressed that the local security forces were busy enough trying to separate neo-Nazis from leftist groups trying to disrupt the rally.
Even since Hess committed suicide in Spandau Prison, where he was serving a life sentence, neo-Nazis have tried to turn his grave in the Bavarian town of Wunsiedel into a place of pilgrimage.
They argue that Hess did not take his own life but was killed by Allied troops who were assigned as guards at the prison, where Hess was the sole prisoner.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
