What's the Matter with Saxony?

What's the Matter with Kansas was the title of Thomas Frank's 2004 book on the transformation of his home state from cradle of progressive populism to a hotbed of right-wing Tea Party activism.  Today we can look at what's happening in the state of Saxony and the continuing violence against refugees and ask the same question.  What the Hell is going on in Saxony?  The Pegida marches last winter were only a foretaste of what was about to come. Now the neo-Nazis seem to be in control of vast swaths of Saxony; each night brings new violence and firebombings of refugee sanctuaries: 

Auf Kommando stürmen sie auf die Bundesstraße. Sie zünden Böller, werfen Steine und Flaschen gezielt auf Polizisten. Mehr als hundert Gewalttäter grölen „Wir sind das Volk!“ und „Ausländer raus!“ und „Nationaler Widerstand!“ Es ist Sonnabend um 22.45 Uhr. Wieder eskaliert die Gewalt vor dem kurzfristig als Flüchtlingsunterkunft eingerichteten ehemaligen Praktiker-Baumarkt in Heidenau.

("When the order is given they storm into the street. They light firecrackers, throw rocks and bottles at the police. More that a hundred of violent hooligans chant "We are the Volk!" and "Foreigners Get Out!" and "National Resistance!" It's Sunday evening 8:45. Once again the violence escalates in front of the hastily constructed refugee sanctuary in Heidenau.")

It seems that nobody can stop this right-wing mob that is wreaking havoc throughout Saxony. Not the police, not the counter-demonstrators, and certainly not the politicians.

Writing in Die Zeit, Stefan Schirmer is only half-joking when he calls for an immediate secession of Saxony from the Federal Republic  - a so-called Säxit:

Fast täglich sinkt das Maß an Polemik, das man aufbringen muss, um für diesen Schritt zu plädieren. So warnten Ärzte in Dresden mit Blick auf die "humanitäre Katastrophe" in einem Flüchtlingszeltcamp, hier sei das Grundgesetz außer Kraft gesetzt. Am selben Ort wurden Helfer des Roten Kreuzes angegriffen. Ob in Freital, Meißen, Freiberg, Hoyerswerda oder Böhlen – überall schlägt Ausländerhass in Gewalt um. Von deutschlandweit 202 Übergriffen auf Asylunterkünfte im ersten Halbjahr 2015 entfielen 42 auf Sachsen. Das Land ist, im schlechtesten Sinne, eine Klasse für sich.

(On a daily basis the reasons for demanding this drastic step become more apparent. Doctors watching the humanitarian catastrophe in the refugee tent camps warn that the conditions violate the German constitution. At these same locations Red Cross helpers are being attacked. Whether in Freital, Meissen, Freibert, Hoyerswerda or Boehlen - everywhere hatred of foreigners is boiling over into violence. In all of Germany there were 202 acts of violence against shelters for asylum seekers in the first half of 2015 - 42 took place in Saxony.  The state is - in the worst sense - in a class all by itself)

Since 1989 the German taxpayers have transferred billions of euros to the Free State of Saxony in subsidies to jump start its moribund economy.  Maybe it was not money well-spent?

Comments

[Zyme]

I wondered in this context, whether there is significant violence in other European countries due to the refugee influx. Is there?

Britain seals of its borders as well as possible and Hungary erects border defenses. Is Italy the only other country where citizens are fed up and riot in some places, or do I simply lack media access to find out about others?

[David]

@Zyme -
Macedonia seems to be in bad shape, although I haven't heard of any arson incidents.

[Zyme]

Macedonia, Greece and southern Italy do have far lower wealth to begin with and have to deal with an influx far higher in proportion to their existing populace.

However I believe there is one crucial reason, why there are so many incidents in Germany and few such in its similarly wealthy neighboring countries:
In contrast to those countries, the political right wing is not represented in Germany.

When a certain part of a society is completely sealed off from legislation and political discourse, don't they always resort to violence at some point?
(One cannot count a party such as the NPD as a suitable representation, when half of its representatives are on government agencies' payroll and the threat of a ban constantly hangs in the air).

Maybe things would be different if freedom of speech was also extended to the right wing by abolishing criminal offenses tailored to prevent salutes and such?