Der Spiegel's Cover Story on the Dangers of the Neo-Nazi NPD

Last week's issue of Der Spiegel dealt with the menace of the neo-Nazi "National Democratic Party" and the challenges and risks in trying to impose a ban.  The cover story makes for interesting reading and is now available in English translation (Part I, Part 2). 

The NPD is trying to go mainstream and project a respectable public image.  So far, it has only achieved some limited political success in a couple of eastern German states such as Saxony.

"The leaders of Germany's far-right NPD seek to project the party as mainstream and reasonable. In truth, however, the party is a melting pot for racists, Hitler worshippers and enemies of democracy."

The dilemma for Germany is, given its tragic history, how tolerant should the state be towards a group that is hostile to parliamentary democracy?

First, however, a fundamental principle needs to be considered, namely, that a party should not be banned merely because it is deeply critical of the prevailing form of government. This is the historic lesson Germany learned from the years of the Nazi reign of terror, when Hitler united society under the swastika and had parties like the Communist Party and the Social Democratic Party banned.

The German constitution's response to this despotism is a guaranteed tolerance, which also applies in the political combat zone. Bans should be democracy's last line of defense, nothing less and nothing more. In the case of a political party, another determining factor in considering a ban is whether the party can be accused of having an "actively combative, aggressive posture against the prevailing system." These are the words of the Federal Constitutional Court in the southwestern city of Karlsruhe, the only body in Germany that can impose a ban, and that only with a two-thirds majority.

Paradoxically, the NPD's neo-Nazis are now the main beneficiaries of this anti-Nazi clause in the German constitution. That's why the process of examining a possible ban raises questions that extend beyond the current discussion, such as: How much freedom against the enemies of freedom can a democracy afford, and how much does it want to afford? And, 67 years after the end of World War II, is it an expression of the weakness or strength of German democracy if it takes the case to the Federal Constitutional Court, at the risk of failing there and thus making the right-wing extremists even stronger?

As the Spiegel piece reports, there are two sides to the NPD: the public side which pays lip service to the democratic system, and then the hidden side which committed to violence.

So how far does the NPD actually go, and how deeply does it venture into the forbidden zone? Today, sources within the party portray it as a group that:

• agitates against foreigners and Jews;
• idolizes Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich;
• flirts with the idea -- even at the highest levels of its national leadership -- of carrying out political change in the country, using violence if necessary;
• uses its activities in regional parliaments as an opportunity to combat the state;
• conceals its worldview behind the image of a party that is concerned about the needs of voters, which has enabled it to penetrate deeply into middle-class society in eastern Germany.

How tolerant should Germany be of the NPD after the emergence of the National Socialist Underground, which for years murdered people with Turkish or middle-eastern background, apparently with the assistance of people affiliated with the NPD? Some right-wing bloggers have been making fun of Der Spiegel for its anti-NPD "hysteria" ("Panik-Mache). But the popularity of pundits such as Thilo Sarrazin show that many of the NPD's core beliefs are deeply embedded in mainstream German culture. 

Comments

[Jake]

"How tolerant should Germany be of the NPD" ..... NOT!

The NPD should'nt exist from Begin with.

[Marvin]

Because the current government is just such a shining beacon of hope...get real. No, the only ones who banned political parties were the people who called themselves nazis; to ban then, in the same way the nazis banned any opposition, would not make any sense from a moral perspective. But Iv'e come to learn that the morality of the German government and of the people (the elite citizens) who seek to have them put into power, are just as evil, scheming and diabolical as the Nazis were.

Trust me on this; The least we have the fear right now are a bunch of skin heads in Saxony...