Photo: APTwo professors in East Germany, in an attempt to fight against the actions of extreme right-wing student groups, have to leave the school and the city. Adequate support from the school director, colleagues and local administration was missing, and the price they bear is name-calling on social networks, as well as personal threats.
Two teachers in the east of Germany, Laura Nickell and Max Teske, tried to oppose the extreme right-wing activities of students who threatened to beat up immigrant students at the "Mina Wittkeutz" school in Burg. News.
The professors talked to the bullies, gave lectures about the country's Nazi past, invited a black rapper to talk about mutual respect, but nothing helped. They sent a letter describing the situation at the school and reported that students greet each other with Nazi salutes and play music with racist lyrics in the school hallways.
"Teachers and students who openly fight against right-wing students and teachers fear for their safety," two teachers wrote in a letter to a local daily newspaper, "Vijesti" reports.
"That problem should be recognized and openly opposed." Schools should be places free from fear, full of openness, safe for everyone and must not be a refuge for the enemies of democracy".
Instead of this professor's action coming to life, what happened was that an anonymous group of parents demanded that these professors be fired. Stickers with their photos and the inscription "Go to Berlin" were pasted near the school complex.
Professors alone in this too
Since the support of the school principal, colleagues and local administrations was lacking, these professors announced two weeks ago that they were leaving the school and this city.
Further discouraged by the lack of support from colleagues, principals and local administrations, Nickel and Teske announced at the end of the school year two weeks ago that they were leaving the school and the town located 116 kilometers southeast of Berlin.
"Extremist statements, actions, far-right slogans, homophobia and sexism are still part of everyday life at this school," Laura Nickel told the Associated Press.
Neither the school nor the local school authority responded to AP's requests for comment on the teacher resignations.
The Ministry of Education of that province was criticized for not supporting the two professors enough. They announced last week that authorities had identified the teenager suspected of originally posting the professor's execution on Instagram.
Read more Planned to establish the Reich: A group of militant lunatics arrested
The extreme right still dominates
These events fueled fears that the far right was still gaining a foothold in some parts of East Germany. Experts claim that especially in the southern Brandenburg state, where Burg is located, a whole network of tattoo shops, nightclubs, youth groups and fan clubs spreads the messages of the far-right Alternative for Germany party, better known as AfD.
Brandenburg's domestic intelligence service earlier this month declared the Young Alternative for Germany, an offshoot of the AfD, as particularly radical and placed it under official surveillance as a "proven right-wing extremist" group.
The AfD was founded in 2013 and entered the German parliament four years later after campaigning against migrants. According to recent surveys, the party has record support at the national level, around 20%, reports "Vijesti".
Many believe that the AfD could become the strongest party after elections in Brandenburg and the neighboring eastern states of Saxony and Thuringia next year.
For the first time since the Nazi era, an extreme right-wing party has come out on top at the district level. Namely, in Thuringia, the AfD candidate won the post of district administrator in Sonneburg last month.
The personal cost these professors bear
Max Teske states that when he goes outside, he often looks over his shoulder to see if anyone is following him. Recently, a man approached him in a supermarket and whispered "get out of here" in his ear.
Police are investigating threats against professors, and officers regularly patrol near their homes.
Professor Teske himself refuses to see the decision to leave the city as surrender and defeat.
He said that by going public about conditions at the school, he and Nikelova had sparked a national debate about the rise of the far right in Germany.
"We will continue to be vocal, we will continue to influence politically and we will not let the far right win."
Laura Nickell added that Germany itself has a special voice in the fight against extreme right-wing populism.
"History repeats itself, and I think we definitely have to do something now to stop the anti-democratic parties in Germany."
MS/News
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