Lem, did you miss a chance to express your true views, amongst your brethren?
3,000 neo-Nazis march through central Berlin
By The Associated Press
Some 3,000 right-wing extremists marched through central Berlin Saturday for a march against an exhibition on Nazi-era crimes by the German army, but they were diverted away from a planned route through the capital's Jewish quarter - a plan that had been condemned by the government and Jewish groups.
Holding banners including 'My grandfather was no criminal,' the neo-Nazis marched from central Berlin's Friedrichstrasse station between rows of police with riot shields. Small groups of counter-demonstrators shouted Nazis out from behind police lines.
Police used water cannons to disperse left-wing demonstrators at an earlier rally who had tried to break through police lines keeping them away from the far-right protesters, spokesman Norbert Gunkel said. A number of people were detained, he said.
About 4,000 police officers - many drafted in from outside Berlin - were in place to prevent violent clashes between anarchists and neo-Nazis that regularly accompany demonstrations by Germany's far right. Helicopters flew overhead, and several streets were sealed off.
Some 1,500 people, carrying placards such as No tolerance for Nazis, had earlier gathered for the counter-demonstration organized by left-wing groups to protest the march by the National Democratic Party.
City authorities had said they were unable to prevent the far-right march, for which organizers were expecting 4,000 protesters.
The organizers wanted to march past a gallery where the army exhibit, which they denounce as anti-German, opened Wednesday - on a route that would have taken them close to the restored synagogue in the heart of the former Jewish district. But in the end, lines of police and armored cars kept them well away from the area.
The protesters were banned from carrying drums and three planned speakers were barred, although they were allowed to wave National Democratic Party flags. The government is trying to ban the National Democratic Party, which it blames for encouraging a big increase last year in hate crimes.
Government spokesman Uwe-Karsten Heye said Friday the march was an unbearable provocation, and expressed support for peaceful protests against it.
The exhibition showing how regular German troops - not just the Nazi SS or special commandos - were involved in wartime atrocities against Jews, civilians and prisoners of war reopened this week after a two-year pause.
Historians had complained that the original was inaccurate and superficial, though they supported its premise. Neo-Nazis, conservatives and veterans joined the criticism before it was withdrawn and overhauled.
Still, Peter Ramsauer, a lawmaker with the conservative Christian Social Union, complained that the new exhibition isn't objective either, because it gives the incorrect impression that most Wehrmacht soldiers were criminals. |
