Germany
Germany
Posted on Dec 28, 2018
Germany’s Far-Right Rebrands: Friendlier Face, Same Doctrine
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Their aim: to bring down liberalism and rid Europe of non-European immigrants.
The “new right” seeks to distance itself from the “old right,” which in Germany means neo-Nazis. Many analysts and officials consider this little more than clever rebranding. But they worry that it could allow groups like Generation Identity to act as a conduit between conservatism and extremism and draw young people into their orbit.
The number of committed Generation Identity followers in Germany is relatively small, estimated by Germany’s domestic intelligence service at 400 to 500, and there are thought to be a few thousand Europewide. But officials say the number of sympathizers is far larger.
Despite a ban from Facebook, which deprived the group of an important campaigning and fund-raising platform, its members continue to be active on YouTube, Twitter and the Russian platform VK, where slick branding amplifies their message.
“They have given extremism a friendly face,” said Stephan Kramer, the domestic intelligence chief of the east-central state of Thuringia.
The “new right” seeks to distance itself from the “old right,” which in Germany means neo-Nazis. Many analysts and officials consider this little more than clever rebranding. But they worry that it could allow groups like Generation Identity to act as a conduit between conservatism and extremism and draw young people into their orbit.
The number of committed Generation Identity followers in Germany is relatively small, estimated by Germany’s domestic intelligence service at 400 to 500, and there are thought to be a few thousand Europewide. But officials say the number of sympathizers is far larger.
Despite a ban from Facebook, which deprived the group of an important campaigning and fund-raising platform, its members continue to be active on YouTube, Twitter and the Russian platform VK, where slick branding amplifies their message.
“They have given extremism a friendly face,” said Stephan Kramer, the domestic intelligence chief of the east-central state of Thuringia.
Germany’s Far-Right Rebrands: Friendlier Face, Same Doctrine
Posted from nytimes.comPosted in these groups: 
Germany
Germany
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 4
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I've been to West Germany and met a female who introduced me to her family on evening in 1983.
While chatting about German culture and how great it was to be a service member stationed there, she slowly opened a wooden cabinet door and all by itself was a flag holder, like they put on a dinner table for special occasions, but this 10 inches tall holder had a Nazi party flag dangling from it.
I didn't say anything about it and politely removed myself from the house and never returned.
I wasn't so much shocked as I was amazed that the family had a Nazi party flag in their house.
I was around 21 years old and your post reminded me of that night oh so long ago.
While chatting about German culture and how great it was to be a service member stationed there, she slowly opened a wooden cabinet door and all by itself was a flag holder, like they put on a dinner table for special occasions, but this 10 inches tall holder had a Nazi party flag dangling from it.
I didn't say anything about it and politely removed myself from the house and never returned.
I wasn't so much shocked as I was amazed that the family had a Nazi party flag in their house.
I was around 21 years old and your post reminded me of that night oh so long ago.
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Hipster Nazis? What on earth... Okay, I know how to defuse this. Tell them there is this thing called classical liberalism and they haven't heard of it yet.
Also, http://hipsterhitler.com/
Also, http://hipsterhitler.com/
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When I was in Germany in the early 1990s, everyone was ridiculously polite. I mentioned this to a civilian I work with who is originally from Croatia but spent some time living in Germany more recently. He said he had a very, very different experience in Germany.
My understanding is that most of the far-right stuff comes from the region that used to be East Germany. I wonder if that relates to the very different experience of West Germany in its relations with the Western Allies as opposed to the experience of East Germany under communist domination. That is, that West Germany experienced growth and prosperity in the post-war years, while East Germany did not and so West Germans might have more readily accepted the fact that the Nazis were wrong while the East Germans might not have fully separated from that history because of the bad experience that had under communism.
My understanding is that most of the far-right stuff comes from the region that used to be East Germany. I wonder if that relates to the very different experience of West Germany in its relations with the Western Allies as opposed to the experience of East Germany under communist domination. That is, that West Germany experienced growth and prosperity in the post-war years, while East Germany did not and so West Germans might have more readily accepted the fact that the Nazis were wrong while the East Germans might not have fully separated from that history because of the bad experience that had under communism.
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