A New Far-Right Generation: Neo-Nazis Seek Foothold in Kindergartens

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Activists say teachers need better training on how to spot far-right parents and how to counter any attempts by them to influence their work. The Amadeu Antonio Foundation, named after an Angolan immigrant who was murdered by neo-Nazis in the town of Eberswalde near Berlin in November 1990, is running a training course for teachers in the northeastern town of Ludwigslust.

"We show how to identify extremist parents by their clothing. Teachers need to know that they can set up a code of conduct for the nursery and simply evict parents who don't stick to the rules," Sandra Pingel-Schliemann, one of the project's coaches, told SPIEGEL ONLINE.

"We get reports of constant confrontation with far-right people in some nurseries. One has to ask oneself what happens in the minds of little children who grow up with an ideology of hatred at home and then come to the nursery where they are taught exactly the opposite.

"We have noticed that the children of far-right parents tend to be very uncommunicative. When you ask them on a Monday what they did that weekend they won't tell you."

Swastika Cakes and Kids Called 'Odin'

In some cases far-right parents can be identified by the Nordic names they call their children. "Some parents bring in children and say their child is called 'Odin' or 'Heil Odin,' says Heike Radvan, the education scientist. Nordic mythology is popular with Nazis and "Odin" is the name of one of its main gods.

Radvan also said she had heard of one mother who opposed a school calling itself "School Without Racism" and posted a recipe for a swastika-shaped cake on her home page.

Some parents try to curry favor with nurseries by providing unpaid help. "There are cases where mothers in a first step get involved in the nursery, for example by helping to build a playground," said Radvan. "But then it becomes clear that they're trying to bring in ideology. They may bring in a racist children's book, for example. Or they might argue that a picture should be removed from the wall because it shows an immigrant child."

Eastern Germany has been dogged by right-wing extremism ever since the fall of the Berlin Wall. Attacks on Jewish property and racist assaults on ethnic minorities are still commonplace in the region.

Assaults on people of dark skin color have become so frequent that immigrant groups have labelled parts of the east as "no-go areas". Police recorded 891 far-right assaults in Germany in 2009, of which 351 were deemed racist and a further 31 anti-Semitic, according to the 2009 report of domestic intelligence service, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV). The statistics show that on a per capita basis, the incidence of attacks is highest in eastern regions.

The total of recorded far-right crimes in 2009 was 18,750, including offenses such as arson, daubing swastikas on headstones in Jewish cemeteries or smashing the windows of takeaway restaurants run by immigrants.

The NPD openly espouses Nazi ideology but also benefits from Germany's liberal laws on freedom of speech and is a legitimate party -- despite a failed attempt in the past by the federal government to ban it -- which entitles it to public funding.

The Office for the Protection of the Constitution describes its as a "racist, anti-Semitic, revisionist" party bent on removing democracy and forming a Fourth Reich. It has seats in the regional parliaments of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Saxony.

'Time to Tackle the Parents'

So far none of Germany's 15 other regional states has said it plans to issue a similar decree ordering nursery operators to sign up to the constitution. And several anti-racism campaigners said it wouldn't help.

"I think it's nonsense and totally exaggerated to respond by issuing such a rule," said Wagner, the former police officer who co-founded EXIT. "It won't have any impact because any NPD member would simply sign a pledge to the democratic constitution.

"Besides, what about the far-right parents who bring their children to the nursery? We urgently needed to address the welfare of children who grow up in such families and find out what scope local authorities have to deal with that."

But amid all the gloom, there are some rays of hope, said Bringt, the anti-Nazi campaigner who runs an advice center in Dresden.

"I've got a positive feeling because we here in Saxony have launched some 120 pro-democracy initiatives over the last 10 years. That's how I measure success. Victims of neo-Nazis know now that there are advice centers they can go to. And local authorities have set up structures for tackling the problem. But it's a phenomenon that will take a very long time to combat."

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• Part 1: Neo-Nazis Seek Foothold in Kindergartens
• Part 2: Teaching the Teachers