Right-wing extremism - A memorial after 31 years remembers the victims of right-wing violence
The Angolan Amadeu Antonio is considered one of the first known victims of right-wing violence in the 90s. The scene of the crime was Eberswalde in northeastern Brandenburg. The brutal act of Skinheads is still remembered nationwide, but not the case of homeless Hans-Georg Jakobson from Strausberg. According to victim support centers, the 35-year-old was thrown from a moving S-Bahn train by Neo-Nazis on July 28, 1993. He later died in the hospital.
Thirty-one years later, Jakobson now receives a memorial at the S-Bahn station of the 28,000-resident city Strausberg in the Märkisch-Oderland district, where, according to the Constitution Protection Agency, a right-wing extremist scene is active and there are meeting points for events. "It's a reminder for the future," says Peps Gutsche, a volunteer member of the victim support center for right-wing violence in Märkisch-Oderland.
Security authorities and organizations against right-wing violence are concerned nationwide: In 2023, the number of right-wing extremist criminal and violent acts increased.
Remembering the "Baseball Bat Years"
The crime against Jakobson in Strausberg fits into the massive street violence of the so-called Baseball Bat Years of the 90s, as described by the Amadeu Antonio Foundation. Officially recognized as a victim of right-wing violence by the state, however, is Amadeu Antonio not.
In the post-reunification years, right-wing violence escalated particularly in Eastern Germany. In Eberswalde, the perpetrators attacked Amadeu Antonio with baseball bats. A memorial plaque remembers him.
The riots in Rostock-Lichtenhagen and Hoyerswerda and at other places made headlines. But not only refugees, but also Punks, homeless people, or people with disabilities experienced racist hate. The Uckermark or Cottbus - today still a stronghold of the right-wing scene - saw an increase in right-wing violent crimes in the 90s.
Brutal attacks and raids against the right-wing extremist party
There is a risk that the Baseball Bat Years will return? Attitudes towards this are varied. There are examples of brutal right-wing violence, although there were many victims to mourn at the time. Victim support centers are alarmed and report an increase in racist motivated incidents.
On July 18, nine suspected perpetrators of the right-wing extremist party Dritter Weg were arrested during raids in Berlin, Brandenburg, and Sachsen. They are suspected of participating in brutal attacks on political opponents in January and July - a crime scene was the Berlin S-Bahn station Ostkreuz. In early May, four young men - at least one of whom was from the right-spectrum - attacked the SPD politician Matthias Ecke from Saxony and left him in need of surgery. Elsewhere, Neo-Nazis are gathering in combat sports groups.
Victim support centers complain of a climate of fear
"The normalization of racism and antisemitism leads to a dramatic expansion of danger zones and to a climate of fear and insecurity for the affected," writes the Association of Victim Support Centers for Victims of Right-Wing, Racist, and Antisemitic Violence. Looking back on the Baseball Bat Years of the 90s, the manager of the association's business office, Heike Kleffner, notes that the same brutality is evident today. "Refugee homes are being attacked, and the acts are celebrated." In some cases, even the death of people is taken for granted.
Lessons must be learned from the Baseball Bat Years. Effective and swift prosecution, visible support for the affected, and protest from civil society are necessary, says Kleffner, who criticizes: For serious crimes, perpetrators in the 90s were almost free of consequences.
The association reported 2589 politically motivated attacks in eleven federal states in the previous year, affecting 3384 people. The most common motive was racism, with 1446 cases. The Consultation Center Perspective is expecting a significant increase in Brandenburg for 2023: In total, there were reportedly 242 right-motivated attacks.
Victim Advisors: Perpetrators of the Past Continue to Spread Ideology
"The Baseball Bat Years are not coming back," says Hannes Püschel, advisor at the Victim Perspective Association. "But we see the perpetrators of the past, who are now actively engaged again. They are passing on their ideology to their children as well. Furthermore, due to the strengthening of right-wing forces, there is a decreasing willingness in local politics - "if there is 30% approval for the AfD in municipalities" - to help migrants and victims of right-wing violence.
In all five eastern German federal states, the AfD is the strongest force in the European elections, and in many places they were in the lead in the municipal elections. In September, state elections are taking place in Saxony, Thuringia, and Brandenburg - according to surveys, the AfD could become the strongest force.
Violence as a Leisure Activity
Numerous alliances in Brandenburg want to protest against the normalization of extreme right-wing ideologies - this Sunday (28.07., 10.00 AM) also with a memorial ceremony and the inauguration of the Hans-Georg Jakobson Memorial in Strausberg. Three perpetrators, who were charged with murder and sentenced to juvenile detention, beat and kicked him. "We threw him out of the train out of frustration because we didn't make any loot," one defendant stated in the trial in 1994.
In the judgment it was stated: "The defendants made violence a part of their leisure activities." In their neo-Nazi worldview, they did not hide in the trial, writes the Amadeu Antonio Foundation about the trial 30 years ago. "At the same time, the devaluation of homeless and unemployed people as allegedly 'inferior' was ignored."
- Despite the memorial for Hans-Georg Jakobson, right-wing extremism continues to be an issue in Strausberg, a city in Brandenburg-Upper Havel with 28,000 residents, where the Constitution Protection Agency has identified an active right-wing extremist scene.
- The number of right-wing extremist criminal and violent acts increased in 2023, causing concern among security authorities and organizations against right-wing violence nationwide.
- The 1990s saw a significant increase in right-wing violence in Eastern Germany, including in Eberswalde, where Amadeu Antonio was attacked with baseball bats by Neo-Nazis.
- The crime against Jakobson in Strausberg fits into the wider context of the Baseball Bat Years, a period of massive street violence in the 90s, as described by the Amadeu Antonio Foundation.
- The arrest of nine suspected perpetrators from the right-wing extremist party Dritter Weg in Berlin, Brandenburg, and Sachsen in July 2023 highlights the ongoing issue of right-wing violence, including brutal attacks on political opponents and attacks on SPD politician Matthias Ecke from Saxony.
- The Association of Victim Support Centers for Victims of Right-Wing, Racist, and Antisemitic Violence has reported a significant increase in racist-motivated incidents, leading to a climate of fear and insecurity for affected individuals.
- Theicide, or the deliberate killing of a human being, was the result of the brutal attacks against right-wing extremist party members in the 90s, according to Heike Kleffner, the manager of the association's business office.
- Numerous alliances in Brandenburg are protesting against the normalization of extreme right-wing ideologies and will be participating in a memorial ceremony and the inauguration of the Hans-Georg Jakobson Memorial in Strausberg.
- The Amadeu Antonio Foundation wrote about the trial of the perpetrators who beat and kicked Jakobson, stating that they made violence a part of their leisure activities, and ignored the devaluation of homeless and unemployed people as allegedly 'inferior'.
