Breaking News Stories
These are news stories breaking after the publishing of this Word
from.
– Twenty-First Century Crusades?
Prediction 4 -
Growth and increased political power in the Neo-Nazi movement.
Germany sees rising performance,
distribution of neo-Nazi music
By The Associated Press
BERLIN - The neo-Nazi music scene in Germany is heating up, as reflected
by an increase in both the number of concerts held and recordings made,
German authorities reported yesterday.
| "...authorities have also
noted an increasingly close relationship between the local
neo-Nazi music scene and the National Democratic Party, or NPD,
a far-right political group that has recently climbed in
regional polls." |
The fact that extremist groups deliberately keep a low profile makes
exact figures difficult to come by, "but experts assume that they are
decidedly on the rise," said Winfriede Schreiber, who heads the Office
for Protection of the Constitution in Brandenburg state.
She said in Brandenburg alone through the end of October, authorities
have registered 729 violations of German anti-propaganda laws - which
bar the distribution of hate speech in all forms, including music CDs -
up 160 from the same period last year.
Schreiber also said her agency has seen growth in the nationwide number
of performances given by neo-Nazi artists. In 2004, authorities noted
137 such performances, up from 119 in 2003. The trend has continued into
2005, she said, though it has become increasingly difficult to track,
since many concerts - especially those in western Germany - are
portrayed as birthday parties or private events. Often they are held on
compounds owned by extremist groups. "Our investigations have made it
clear that there were many concerts that the police didn't know about,"
Schreiber said.
In Brandenburg, which surrounds Berlin, authorities have also noted an
increasingly close relationship between the local neo-Nazi music scene
and the National Democratic Party, or NPD, a far-right political group
that has recently climbed in regional polls. In one instance during this
summer's national election campaign, a CD with extremist content was
freely distributed to school children.
In the first 10 months of the year, Brandenburg officials requested the
federal government classify 60 CDs and DVDs as having "right-extremist"
content. In all of 2004, Germany identified 79 such discs, 70 of which
were submitted by Brandenburg authorities.
|