The departure of two teachers in the Spreewald after right-wing hostility has triggered a debate about right-wing extremism in schools. Figures are now available on the development of such incidents. In Lusatia, people are concerned. Politicians and authorities are under criticism.
Sunday, July 16, 2023, 9:00 p.m|last updated: Sunday, 07/16/2023, 1:18 p.m Reading time: 4 minutes |
The number of right-wing extremist incidents at schools in Brandenburg increased significantly in the 2022/2023 school year. The four state school boards reported 70 such statements or incidents by early June, while 30 were counted throughout the 2021-2022 school year, the Ministry of Education said on Saturday. The “Welt am Sonntag” previously reported. The Society of the Lausitz Economic Region was concerned about the development.
According to the listing, by June most right-wing extremist cases were reported in the area of the Cottbus school authority, at 27, and there were 3 in the entire 2021/2022 school year. The ministry pointed out that the 2021/2022 school year was still dominated by the Corona crisis .
In Brandenburg, 15 anti-Semitic and 14 xenophobic and 4 other extremist statements and incidents were also counted in the 2021/2022 school year. In the 2022/2023 school year, the school authorities reported 6 anti-Semitic, 15 xenophobic and also 4 other extremist statements and incidents.
Increase also in Thuringia
According to the Ministry of Education, the number of cases in which banned, unconstitutional symbols were used and incitement to hatred rose to 91 in 2022 after 55 in the Corona year 2021 in Thuringia’s schools but not school life.
In April, teachers Max Teske and Laura Nickel from Burg im Spreewald in Brandenburg published daily right-wing extremist incidents at their school in a fire letter. After that, they were increasingly exposed to hostilities. The state protection investigates in the case of stickers. Both teachers announced on Wednesday that they wanted to change schools. Since the letter became known, reports of such incidents in schools have increased.
Teachers lament lip service
The teacher Teske criticized the school authorities. “No one stood in front of us and said quite frankly that they would support us and do everything possible to ensure that right-wing extremism has no place in schools,” he told the “Märkische Allgemeine” with a view to the school authority in Cottbus and the Ministry of Education. “Instead, there was a lot of lip service. But that’s not enough.” Minister of Education Steffen Freiberg (SPD) had rejected criticism and stated that the school authority had taken action immediately after the anonymous fire letter in the school.
Federal Education Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger (FDP) considers a consistent approach to be necessary. “The events at the Brandenburg school are an alarm signal,” she told the “Welt am Sonntag”. Freedom, democracy, tolerance and plurality must be defended by all if necessary. Brandenburg’s head of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Jörg Müller, told the newspaper that developments in Burg should be viewed with great concern. However, he assumes that this is not a Brandenburg specialty.
abandoned teachers
The Victims Perspective Association said on Thursday in Potsdam that local and state politics had not sufficiently strengthened and protected the two teachers in Burg im Spreewald. The alliance “#unteilbar-Südbrandenburg” declared that her departure was “a failure of local and state politics”. Minister of Education Steffen Freiberg (SPD) condemned the hostility towards the pedagogue.
The Brandenburg alliance “School for more democracy” criticized that the two teachers had “not been sufficiently supported by state politics and local structures”. “Supposed neutrality or a lack of positioning lead to processes like this,” the alliance said. Those in positions of responsibility would have to “tackle the problems with the extreme right offensively instead of trying to whitewash them with image campaigns”.
Right-wing extremism a danger for the economic region
According to the Lausitz Economic Region Development Society, right-wing extremism is one of the greatest threats to the economic development of the up-and-coming region. “We are no longer able to fill the vacancies,” said Managing Director Heiko Jahn of the German Press Agency. “It is in our interest that we appear cosmopolitan in order to have an economic future.” Jahn warned: “Without foreign skilled workers, we will not be able to maintain our standard of living.”
Right-wing incidents don’t just happen in schools. In May, the police reported alleged racist hostilities against students from Berlin at a holiday resort in Heidesee (Dahme-Spreewald district). In June, unknown perpetrators threw an incendiary device on a rainbow flag – a sign of diversity – that was hanging on the belfry of a church in Spremberg (Spree-Neisse district).
State elections in 2024
A new state parliament will be elected in Brandenburg next year. The AfD is strong in southern Brandenburg. The state party has been classified as a suspected right-wing extremist by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution since 2020, and the AfD youth organization Junge Alternative has been classified as a right-wing extremist effort since last Wednesday.
Brandenburg’s Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke (SPD) had also warned that right-wing extremism and racism could pose a threat to economic development. The “Bündnis für Brandenburg”, which promotes a welcoming culture for immigrants, renewed its appeal against right-wing extremism on Friday. (dpa/epd/mig) Current panorama
2023-07-16 19:48:34
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