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September 17, 1991

Discussion in '"Today in History", Literature & Media Review' started by Martin Antonenko, Sep 16, 2021.

  1. Martin Antonenko A Fixture

    Country:
    Germany
    The Mob of Hoyerswerda!


    On September 17, 1991, at least eight mostly young neo-Nazis attacked Vietnamese traders on the market square in the small town of Hoyerswerda in Saxony.

    The attacked fear for their lives and then flee to a nearby dormitory for so-called "contract workers".

    The eleven-storey building on Albert-Schweitzer-Strasse was home to around 120 contract workers, mainly for what was then Lausitzer Braunkohle AG, which the overthrown GDR government had recovered from Mozambique and Vietnam and their employment contracts with the "Lausitzer brown coal", which has since been taken over by the West AG "had been terminated at the end of September and December 1991, respectively.

    Within a few hours, three to four dozen other German neo-Nazis appear in front of the building and start shouting slogans and throwing stones.

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    The residents then begin to defend themselves, sometimes using force.
    Despite dozens of emergency telephone calls, the Saxon police leave the situation to the mob for a full two hours before they intervene!

    Officials are finally sealing off the building - but are not taking any action against the neo-Nazis.

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    On the evening of September 18, several dozen neo-Nazis attacked the dormitory with stones and incendiary devices to the cheers of a whipped-up (and sometimes drunk) mob.

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    Local residents join in and either stand by or applaud.

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    The picture of the "Spiegel" photographer Martin Langer goes around the world, showing the drunken man, the hand raised in the Hitler salute and the unemployed construction machinist Harald Ewert from Rostock-Lichtenhagen soaked in excitement ...:

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    When Ewert discovered his photo in the media the next day, he burned his soiled sweatpants out of anger! Ewert, who died in 2006, was sentenced to a fine of 300 DM in the spring of 1993 for violating Section 86a of the Criminal Code (using symbols of unconstitutional organizations).

    The police hardly intervene.

    The attackers also included many colleagues from contract workers from the open-cast lignite mine, who until recently had been working peacefully with them.

    Eventually the contract workers are evacuated. 60 people were brought from Hoyerswerda by bus on September 20th, accompanied by the police.

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    This is where the official "story" ends.

    Less known is:
    Almost all contract workers are transported directly to Frankfurt am Main or Berlin and deported from there to their home countries.

    In Saxony, the authorities blamed the attacked for being attacked - and the local residents anyway. So they want to get rid of them as quickly as possible.

    Following the riots, Hoyerswerda was described by neo-Nazis as the “first city free of foreigners”, based on the Nazi term “Jew-free”.

    This term became a synonym for the riots in Hoyerswerda and in 1991 the first “unword of the year” that the Society for the German language choosed.
  2. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England
    Terrible incident for sure

    Certainly a very different end to the official one

    Cheers Martin

    Nap
    Martin Rohmann likes this.
  3. Airkid A Fixture

    Country:
    England
    It ain't gone away - just the targets have changed.
    housecarl, sd0324 and Martin Rohmann like this.
  4. akaryu Moderator

    Country:
    Belgium
    Sad story and nothing much has changed for the better.:(

    Pierre
    housecarl and Martin Rohmann like this.
  5. Martin Antonenko A Fixture

    Country:
    Germany
    Unfortunately you are right, especially in Saxony it has gotten much worse!

    The right-wing extremist party "AfD" was elected to the state parliament with almost 30 percent, Nazi attacks on people who look different, think differently or live differently are now part of everyday life there, the security organs have been massively infiltrated by right-wing extremists ("lost" police ammunition appeared later on again with neo-Nazis) - and also the justice system in Saxony is "blind in the right eye"!

    During the current election campaign for the Bundestag, a Nazi party is hanging up posters openly calling for the murder of "Greens" ("Hang the Green").

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    After a court ruling there, they are allowed to stay because no special name is given on it. The only condition of the court: The posters must hang at least 100 meters away from election posters of the "Green" party.

    In all other federal states, these posters were removed and confiscated by the police by order of the authorities.

    That's how it is in Saxony ...
    housecarl likes this.
  6. sd0324 PlanetFigure Supporter



    Same thing happening here, but the colors are reversed and much more violent.
  7. Martin64 A Fixture

    Country:
    Germany

    Just for the record: The poster above is playing with words and their meaning - a strategy used by other political parties likewise. It tells literally: Hang the greens - and carries on with the call for supporting this party by hanging their green posters in many places. Of course a bad style and the party is known to be right wing. Nevertheless according to German law no political party is allowed to enter the election process that is not in line with Article 21 of our constitution. So the image that Nazi parties are again part of the elections in Germany should be seen with considerable doubt.
    On the other hand the right to freedom of speech includes the right to utter provocative thoughts in our democracy and that is granted likewise by the constitution. It refers to all political parties and individuals. Therefore you can for example display the slogan in public that "all soldiers are murderers" and "all cops are bastards" as long as you don`t refer to an special Police Officer or soldier....

    Being a Police Officer I feel that the statements about Police being infiltrated is highly speculative and far from my personal experiences in my daily duties which included for years a cooperation with colleagues from Saxony and other federal German states. By giving this picture of an infiltrated Police Force of "Nazis" left wing activists regularly justify their violent actions against Police Officers.
    The Police in the former part of communist-controlled Eastern Germany suffered initially from the situation that after the reunification of Germany the majority of the Police Force just switched their uniforms. So they had little credibility and backup in the population as being seen as the former servants of the communist regime - the same referred to the contract workers that became the victims of the mob btw. That was a part of the problem at Hoyerswerda when the local Police tried to intervene... an Eastern German Police Force that at that time was not trained to deal with beatings and throwing of stones etc. by rioteers and did not dare to apply the tactics they were taught in the former communist "German Democratic Republic".

    Martin, I think that the above statemens represent your personals views and cannot be seen as historical facts and I ask myself if this should be part of "Today in history". IMHO this is spreading left wing propanda - not facts. - Better watch the fuse in your avatar and maybe reread the rules of this forum!
    Cheers, Martin
    sd0324 likes this.
  8. Martin Antonenko A Fixture

    Country:
    Germany
    Sorry, dear namesake - but there is a straight line from the Nazi era (history) through the pillaging mob of Hoyerswerda (contemporary history) to the political conditions in the state of Saxony today.

    There ARE these posters - and it is a fact that the police have confiscated them everywhere in Germany, just not in Saxony - according to the aforementioned court ruling!

    Just as it is a fact that the party "Der III. Weg", from which these posters originate, is an openly National Socialist group.

    I don't understand what "propaganda" is supposed to be about it.

    Just as it is a fact that "lost" police ammunition was later found by right-wing extremists. Incidentally, the ammunition did not get lost in a small police station somewhere in the country, but in a strictly secured large authority - the Saxon State Criminal Police Office - and it was part of the inventory of a police special unit for counter-terrorism!
    It wasn't just a few cartridges, but more than 7,000 rounds!

    Since then, the authorities have been investigating 17 police officers from this special unit - their boss has been fired. Facts, not propaganda!

    And it is a fact that the right-wing extremist party "AfD", whose honorary chairman called the Nazi era "fly shit in history", was elected by so many people in no other federal state than it was in Saxony - 27.5 percent of the electorate in year 2019.

    Just as it is a fact that in Saxony EVERY DAY eight people are victims of right-wing extremist violence!

    (962 bodily harm, 213 coercion and massive threats, 19 cases of trespassing, 15 cases of threats, 9 arson and 2 serious bodily harm and attempted killings in 2018)

    And yes! - I have a clear stance against Nazi murderers then and now:
    But that's not "left", it's human.


    Cheers
    housecarl likes this.
  9. Martin64 A Fixture

    Country:
    Germany
    Propaganda means to me leaving out information and showing just one side of a medal. That refers once more to nearly all above mentioned "facts" that you present. This forum is not the place to discuss these things in detail. Curb your dog(ma)!
  10. Martin Antonenko A Fixture

    Country:
    Germany
    Martin,

    please show us the "other side of the medal" concerning the posters, the "lost" police ammunition, the right extremists violence against foreign people (eight per day
    in average) the "fly shit" quote of the honorary chairman of the AfD and their 27.5 percent election result in Saxony. I'm very curious...

    Although I would like to tell you quite frankly that in my eyes it is "propaganda" to relativize or downplay Nazi activities and crimes in any way. In history or contemporary history. Nazi ideology is not a "political opinion" but a crime!


    Cheers
  11. Martin64 A Fixture

    Country:
    Germany
    We can take this to PM. As a German you are able to read the news about the lost ammunition that were not simply handed over to extremists as you suggest (this case is still under investigation btw) and about the stats of political related crimes involving violence within Saxony published on the internet https://www.polizei.sachsen.de/de/79395.htm where you will find that political crimes involving violence including two cases of murder committed by left wing criminals make 63% of all registered political motivated crimes of that cathegory ("involving violence"). So despite all the Nazis you assume to live in Saxony the left wing criminals seem to be still more violent - is there a reason to fear for our democracy or to mention these numbers if you want to report truthfully about the situation in Saxony??
    Where you got your average of eight victims per day to right-wing-extremists from remains a mystery to me.
    Nevertheless I am not supporting any kind of violence but I disagree with your view on the situtation and the way "facts" are presented.
    It is not about downplay of anything and once more: this is not the place for politics disguised as "contemporary history". Read the guidelines.
    Cheers, Martin
  12. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England
    Just seen the comments from both Martins ........USE PM to discuss please

    Please be aware of the forum rules

    Thank you

    Nap
    Martin64 likes this.
  13. Martin Antonenko A Fixture

    Country:
    Germany
    Sir, yes Sir!

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    housecarl and Nap like this.

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