In late 2007, German politician Roland Koch began speaking about the increase in immigrant youth crimes in Germany. A few weeks later, a 76-year old German man was assaulted by two foreigners on a Munich-bound train. The old man had asked the foreigners to stop smoking on board and they responded by calling him a "shit German".
After being spit at, the old man tried to step off the train but the foreigners followed, beat the old man and kicked him in the head, resulting in a fractured skull and internal bleeding in his brain. If the Munich incident was any indication, Koch had correctly identified the source of the surge in crime. But it was odd that Koch had been so honest in his diagnosis; politicians typically advocate multiculturalism, the asylum state and turning Germany into an immigrant state, so the last thing they usually want is to say that a rise in crime is an "immigrant" problem, which can turn the people against immigration.
The mainstream media also tries to keep its message consistent with the push for immigration. For instance, crimes committed by immigrant youths are often referred to as "youth crimes." Hiding the ethnic background of the perpetrators helps keep the public from suspecting that integration is not working.
German attacks on foreigners, on the other hand, are a boon to the multiculturalist agenda; they trigger a "Nazi alarm", which generates front page news and sends Germany into a whirlwind. Then, instead of complaining that multiculturalism isn't working, that foreigners are incompatible with German society and that the immigrants aren't learning German or respecting German culture, the public will want their children to be exposed to more school day sermons about multiculturalism and tolerance.
Thus, the "Nazi alarm" represents not just a warning bell concerning racism, but also something to distract the reader from immigrant crime and even shift the blame for failed integration in order to pressure educators to provide more multicultural education. The latter is particularly important. Through multicultural training, German youth unlearn an appreciation for their own culture and society; they lose the sense of identity formed through interactions with their parents and community. Moreover, they learn that those who still maintain a natural appreciation for their own people, culture and nationality are potential "Nazis" who could still commit brutal and hateful acts against foreigners. Finally, students of multiculturalism come to believe that nationalist and immigration-conservative parties legitimize attitudes towards foreigners which could lead to anti-foreigner violence.
Not surprisingly, after an anti-foreigner crime, nationalist and immigration-conservative political parties come under fire from those who sincerely believe that the existence of such parties promotes hate crimes against foreigners. Take for example the response to a 17-year-old girl's claim that "some Neo-Nazis" from eastern Germany had cut a swastika symbol into her hip. The incident, widely reported throughout the German media circuit, was used to argue that the National Democratic Party (NPD) should be banned. See, for example, this excerpt in the popular magazine Der Spiegel:
That brings us to the alleged "Neo-Nazi attack mob" from the small city of Mügeln in eastern Germany. For months, the media generated horrific headlines about the mob and depicted a band of brutish eastern German Neo-Nazi thugs shouting racial slurs and hunting down eight Indian men to pulverize. Meanwhile, the press howled about the support that the NPD had had in the Mügeln region. The mainstream political parties joined in, and began pressuring for more multicultural awareness programs. But the story that had made headline news was nothing close to the truth; as it turns out, one of the Indians had pulled a knife on a German in a dance club and the confrontation between the two men had escalated outside. The fable about the "attack mob" fell apart, and all but one of the Germans who had been taken into custody were cleared from the investigation. So much for the image in the media - and so much for the "Nazi alarm".
After being spit at, the old man tried to step off the train but the foreigners followed, beat the old man and kicked him in the head, resulting in a fractured skull and internal bleeding in his brain. If the Munich incident was any indication, Koch had correctly identified the source of the surge in crime. But it was odd that Koch had been so honest in his diagnosis; politicians typically advocate multiculturalism, the asylum state and turning Germany into an immigrant state, so the last thing they usually want is to say that a rise in crime is an "immigrant" problem, which can turn the people against immigration.
The mainstream media also tries to keep its message consistent with the push for immigration. For instance, crimes committed by immigrant youths are often referred to as "youth crimes." Hiding the ethnic background of the perpetrators helps keep the public from suspecting that integration is not working.
German attacks on foreigners, on the other hand, are a boon to the multiculturalist agenda; they trigger a "Nazi alarm", which generates front page news and sends Germany into a whirlwind. Then, instead of complaining that multiculturalism isn't working, that foreigners are incompatible with German society and that the immigrants aren't learning German or respecting German culture, the public will want their children to be exposed to more school day sermons about multiculturalism and tolerance.
Thus, the "Nazi alarm" represents not just a warning bell concerning racism, but also something to distract the reader from immigrant crime and even shift the blame for failed integration in order to pressure educators to provide more multicultural education. The latter is particularly important. Through multicultural training, German youth unlearn an appreciation for their own culture and society; they lose the sense of identity formed through interactions with their parents and community. Moreover, they learn that those who still maintain a natural appreciation for their own people, culture and nationality are potential "Nazis" who could still commit brutal and hateful acts against foreigners. Finally, students of multiculturalism come to believe that nationalist and immigration-conservative parties legitimize attitudes towards foreigners which could lead to anti-foreigner violence.
Not surprisingly, after an anti-foreigner crime, nationalist and immigration-conservative political parties come under fire from those who sincerely believe that the existence of such parties promotes hate crimes against foreigners. Take for example the response to a 17-year-old girl's claim that "some Neo-Nazis" from eastern Germany had cut a swastika symbol into her hip. The incident, widely reported throughout the German media circuit, was used to argue that the National Democratic Party (NPD) should be banned. See, for example, this excerpt in the popular magazine Der Spiegel:
Calls by some politicians to ban the far-right NPD party were renewed most recently after an attack on a 17-year-old girl on Nov. 3 in the town of Mittweida. Violent extremists scratched a swastika in the girl's hip after she tried to help a 6-year-old girl being harassed by four men. (more)
Not only is it absurd to believe that the mere existence of a political party inspired the attack in Mittweida, but the alleged crime was a hoax. As it turns out, the girl had lied about being attacked by Neo-Nazis and actually carved a swastika into her own leg (additional sources: here and here). It isn't the first time something like this has happened:
in 1994, a girl claimed that she had been attacked in the eastern German city of Halle. Horrified by the incident, 10,000 people gathered to protest against "Neo-Nazis" in the east and the crimes they were allegedly committing. The catch: the girl made the whole attack up.
- in December 2002, a 14-year-old girl of mixed ancestry carved a swastika into her cheek and reported to German police in the small, eastern German town of Guben. The girl claimed that she had been attacked by "Neo-Nazis", which she later admitted was completely false.
That brings us to the alleged "Neo-Nazi attack mob" from the small city of Mügeln in eastern Germany. For months, the media generated horrific headlines about the mob and depicted a band of brutish eastern German Neo-Nazi thugs shouting racial slurs and hunting down eight Indian men to pulverize. Meanwhile, the press howled about the support that the NPD had had in the Mügeln region. The mainstream political parties joined in, and began pressuring for more multicultural awareness programs. But the story that had made headline news was nothing close to the truth; as it turns out, one of the Indians had pulled a knife on a German in a dance club and the confrontation between the two men had escalated outside. The fable about the "attack mob" fell apart, and all but one of the Germans who had been taken into custody were cleared from the investigation. So much for the image in the media - and so much for the "Nazi alarm".
