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‘They call us Nazis’: inside the wealthy German town where the far right is on the rise (www.theguardian.com)
submitted 3 months ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/world@lemmy.world
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Counter rallies in Kaufbeuren show split between supporters of AfD and locals who acknowledge the Bavarian town’s Nazi past

Soaring church spires, the 1,000-year-old town centre unblemished by second world war bombing or graffiti, snow-capped Alps in the middle distance – Kaufbeuren, in Bavaria, can count many blessings.

Unemployment is in the low single digits, the Luftwaffe backed away from plans to move its training school for Eurofighter and Tornado jet technicians elsewhere and crime is at a historic low.

However, as voters prepare to elect a new European parliament next month, deep-seated fears have gripped a significant share of the electorate in one of the most affluent pockets of Europe’s top economy and delivered it to the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD).

The bond between the party and its voters appears unshaken even by a cascade of recent scandals. The AfD’s lead candidate for the election, Maximilian Krah, was forced by his party leadership on Wednesday to resign from its board and stop campaigning after he told Italy’s La Repubblica that the SS, the Nazi paramilitary force which ran the death camps, were not all criminals and could only be judged on the basis of “individual guilt”.

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[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 70 points 3 months ago

“It’s a catastrophe – the worst government we ever had,” said civil servant Manuela, 55, who was from a neighbouring town and, like most of the AfD supporters, declined to give her surname. She brought her teenage daughter to the rally. Despite the low rates of violent crime, she said her family no longer felt safe on the streets due to “Islamists”.

Anti-AfD activists booed and whistled from the sidelines as Krah addressed the rally. Manuela said: “They call us Nazis just because we’re patriots. The world laughs at us because no country is as dumb as Germany, with our exaggerated tolerance and diversity. They’ve been telling us for decades we should carry this guilt, and so we should rescue the whole world and be its dole office.”

Hey Manuela from paragraph two, you should talk to Manuela from paragraph one.

Also... Manuela. Is that a German name?

[-] CitizenKong@lemmy.world 43 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Manuela is a very German name, so much so a German rapper actually made a song about it.

But of course its origin isn't Germanic at all. Which I doubt people with such convictions care about.

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 35 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Manuela or Manuéla is a feminine Portuguese, Spanish and Italian given name. The name is a variant of the masculine "Manuel", which is in turn derived from the Hebrew name "Emanuel", meaning "God is with us".[1]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuela_(given_name)

Sounds like that German rapper doesn't believe in German purity.

Edit: I posted this before the person above edited their post.

[-] AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago

It's as German as Mercedes is!

[-] originalfrozenbanana@lemm.ee 8 points 3 months ago

Well you see consistency is a requirement for my opponents. \s

[-] Ooops@kbin.social 4 points 3 months ago

Hey Manuela from paragraph two, you should talk to Manuela from paragraph one.

Pointing out that this idiocy only works with a massive amount of cognitive dissonance is nothing new...

[-] atomicorange@lemmy.world 4 points 3 months ago

Yep, I know a Manuela from Germany!

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 4 points 3 months ago

And there's a very well-known TV show and filmmaker from Scotland named Armando Ianucci. I wouldn't say Armando is a Scottish name.

[-] atomicorange@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago

Wikipedia says the root is Hebrew. So…. a European name? Seems pretty popular in Germany.

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 4 points 3 months ago

I don't think you read that link very well.

Manuela or Manuéla is a feminine Portuguese, Spanish and Italian given name. The name is a variant of the masculine "Manuel", which is in turn derived from the Hebrew name "Emanuel", meaning "God is with us".[1]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuela_(given_name)

[-] atomicorange@lemmy.world 9 points 3 months ago

If it’s popular in Germany, given by a German parent to a German child and based on a Hebrew root word, I’d argue it’s a German name as much as it is Portuguese, Spanish, or Italian.

It’s all semantics though, I assumed your original question was about how common the name was in Germany, not about its linguistic roots. It seems fairly common. If you’re looking for a deep dive on the history of the name I’ll let you do your own research because I honestly don’t give a shit and you’re being kind of rude.

[-] barsoap@lemm.ee 4 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

It is, or rather was, quite popular in Germany, hovering around place 20-50 for 20 years is nothing to scoff at. Here's the whole top 250 for the 70s. Right next to Michaela.

[-] tsonfeir@lemmy.world 50 points 3 months ago

If it quacks like a Nazi…

[-] Jackhammer_Joe@lemmy.world 16 points 3 months ago

... and walks like a Nazi...

[-] Papergeist@lemmy.world 20 points 3 months ago

You gotta punch it in the nose!

[-] RedAggroBest@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago

Donald Duck was a Nazi

[-] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago

..................what?

[-] RedAggroBest@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago

There's literally a WW2 propaganda piece done by Disney. Donald Duck is a Nazi and they make fun of them. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Der_Fuehrer%27s_Face

End result is still, jokingly, saying Donald Duck is a Nazi.

[-] TIMMAY@lemmy.world 49 points 3 months ago

If youre a german citizen and you're far-right , you're as nazi as it gets

[-] Treczoks@lemmy.world 37 points 3 months ago

Like the recent event in Sylt. You can easily find the Nazi sympathisers wherever the rich gather.

[-] suction@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago

More so in the lower classes. Handymen and the likes.

[-] cupcakezealot 21 points 3 months ago

"they call us nazis" - literal nazis

[-] knightmare1147@lemmy.world 18 points 3 months ago

Isn't Nazi anything super illegal in Germany?

[-] chillhelm@lemmy.world 41 points 3 months ago

Yes. But the state still has to prove that what you did was a) a Nazi thing and b) that you either knew or should have known it was so.

So if you show the Hitler salute, you'll be arrested and fined. If you give a speech in which you suggest that immigrants need to learn "the liberating power of work" (referencing the Motto of Auschwitz "Arbeit macht Frei" "Work makes Free") that is totally fine.

[-] suction@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago

The German right wingers usually knew to ride the edge, ie not show illegal symbols or do illegal chants while still making it obvious. But they’re getting more cheeky because of all the encouragement from Russia, Trump, Musk, etc.

[-] lemmytellyousomething@lemmy.dbzer0.com 14 points 3 months ago

Yeah. Nazi is the wrong word. The AfD people make politics in favor of Russia and China. Traitor is a better word.

[-] DarthFrodo@lemmy.world 22 points 3 months ago

The NSDAP had no issues working with Russia, as long as it was in their interest.

[-] suction@lemmy.world 14 points 3 months ago

That guy taking a selfie definitely is a so called “Russo-German”, ie a Russian person with German ancestors. Germany (unfortunately) allowed many of these people to obtain German citizenship with no real background check. Now it turns out that a majority of them love Putin and look down on Western values. These jokers all vote far-right and even drive around with huge “Z” symbols on their 4th hand Audis.

[-] Justas@sh.itjust.works 4 points 3 months ago

Yep, in their mind Russia is great and is the future. Meanwhile, countries west of them are decadent and temporary.

[-] suction@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago

...while they enjoy the freedoms and economic opportunities, and in the case of Germany, high-grade social security of those Western countries they hate so much.

[-] Miaou@jlai.lu 2 points 3 months ago

There are enough Nazis in Germany without having to blame a minority of Russian born ones tbh

[-] suction@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Minority or not, they are a huge problem because Putin is using Russian minorities in other countries as a pretext to invade claiming they're being unfairly treated. That's a separate problem from them being Neonazis, of course, but it adds up. And they are not only Neo-Nazi followers, but agitators, so they are more guilty than your run-of-the-mill AfD NPC.

It's better we have them put under extreme scrutiny, similar to the other Neonazi groups which are being observed by the authorities.

[-] Eheran@lemmy.world 6 points 3 months ago

And that is why you do not use things like calling someone a Nazi inflationary. It has the exact opposite effect.

[-] nublug 41 points 3 months ago

if being incorrectly called a nazi makes you be a nazi, you weren't incorrectly called a nazi.

[-] Eheran@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago

How is that what I said?

Calling people that want X but do not see themselves (and are not) anywhere near far right Nazis means that the word loses all meaning. "I am a Nazi? I guess all the other people they call Nazis are/were not that bad then"

[-] mierdabird@lemmy.dbzer0.com 24 points 3 months ago

AFD is trying to make Germany only of pure Aryan bloodline. They literally have a plan to deport anyone not of German ancestry. How are they not Nazi's?

[-] Robaque@feddit.it 6 points 3 months ago

How many racisms does one have to do before they can be considered "far right" enough to be called a nazi?

[-] Eheran@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago

Nazi is the most extreme far right possible. Everything else is less crazy. Mildly right people are not Nazis. They can be racist, close minded, whatever.

[-] finishsneezing@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Absolutely true. However, the lines between proper Nazis and AfD/its sub-organizations is very blurry. Even courts and the secret service for the interior have said so recently. Still, calling people Nazis who support and vote for Nazis and their allies is not quite correct.

[-] DriftinGrifter 3 points 3 months ago

wer mit nazis zu tisch geht ist staatsveräter

[-] finishsneezing@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Sure, but it doesn’t make them nazis

[-] DriftinGrifter 1 points 3 months ago

-> ist nazi versteher -> fast so schlimm wie ein nazi sollte eig gleich behandelt werden

[-] Eheran@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago

Yes, everything is blurry, no question. By blanket calling all of them Nazi the word loses it's meaning. Those that previously would be like "Nazis are bad" find themselves called just that. That is all I am saying. It does not help.

[-] MilitantAtheist@lemmy.world 5 points 3 months ago

BJ has entered the chat.

this post was submitted on 26 May 2024
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