Русская версияPolice have returned 39 teenagers and children who were attending a
camp run by a neo-Nazi youth organization to their homes.
The group
that ran the camp, the
Heimattreuer Deutsche Jugend
(HDJ) had described it as a youth adventure holiday.
The police raid uncovered racist propaganda and Nazi material,
including tea towels with swastikas on them and maps showing Europe
and Germany with pre-1918 borders.
The camp was in an isolated spot in the German state of
Mecklenburg-Western Pommerania, down a concrete road, surrounded by
forest. From the outside it looked just like any other summer camp.
Authorities there were tipped off to the camps true intentions by
some locals, said Volker Werner, spokesman for the Rostock police,
who took charge of the investigation.
After receiving a search warrant, police and youth authorities
entered the camp. In addition to the 39 campers, there were also a
dozen adults. The camp's alleged leader was a 24-year-old from the
town of Rottenberg in the southern state of Baden-Wuerttemberg.
The organization Network Against Nazis believes that camp was
designed to bring whole families over to the right wing movement.
The children, who came from all over Germany, said they had
permission from their parents to take part in the camp.
Neo-Nazis turning increasingly violent
Bildunterschrift:
Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:
The German Federal Crime Office has said that neo-Nazis are
adopting more violent tactics
The head of Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), Joerg
Ziercke, told the German daily
Tagesspiegel
neo-Nazis were adopting increasingly violent tactics. Ziercke said
neo-Nazis were attacking left-wingers and police officers with an
aggression that can be seen as a change in strategy.
"Before, neo-Nazis largely avoided violence for tactical reasons,
but this no longer appears to be the case," he added.
Ziercke said the riots on May 1 in Hamburg were an example of the
new strategy. Clashes erupted in Hamburg when 6,000 people took to
the streets to protest against a march involving some 1,500
supporters of the far-right NPD party. Twenty police officers were
hurt and some 60 people were arrested.
Arson attacks by right-wing groups were also on the rise, according
to Ziercke. There were some 15 incidents reported in the
first five months of 2008 - five times as many as in the same
period last year.
(Deutsche Welle)
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