For right-wing extremism experts, the fire letter from teachers about “right-wing extremism at our school” comes as no surprise. In the letter, the teachers complain about right-wing extremist incidents at their secondary school in the municipality of Burg (Spree-Neisse) – but also fear for their safety, “forced silence”, threats and a lack of support from the school management, school authorities, politicians and parents in the fight against the right. The Hitler salute – apparently common at school.
The Ministry of Education is now investigating the case. It only found out about it through the media. At least there is the question of whether the school management knew about the right-wing extremist incidents – and whether they deliberately did not report them to the school authorities. Schools are obliged to do this. This is provided for in a circular from the ministry entitled: “Look – act – help. Live and learn at school free of fear and violence”.
The police are investigating
There is a suspicion that the school management has covered right-wing activities. A teacher at the school reported to the RBB about an incident in which the school management apparently stopped. A student was expelled from the class and said “work makes you free” – the saying from the gate of the concentration camp Auschwitz. A teacher then went with the student to the school administration and also reported the incident by e-mail. However, the school administration had “actually no reaction at all”.
The police have been investigating the incidents described in the fire letter since Tuesday and have already carried out initial interrogations at the school. As with the Hitler salute, it is partly about criminal offences. Because, according to the teachers, school furniture was “smeared with swastikas, right-wing extremist music” was heard in class and anti-democratic slogans were shouted through school corridors.
Burg made headlines in 2020 for right-wing extremist activities. An entrepreneur took over a traditional inn and is a central figure in the neo-Nazi scene in the Cottbus area. At that time, the Ministry of the Interior expressed concern that a meeting place for right-wing extremists would be created in Burg. Observers say that neo-Nazi children from the so-called baseball bat years are now in schools in the region.
In the region, right-wing extremist structures have been established and consolidated over decades, the AfD is celebrating records in the Spree-Neisse district, it received more than a third of the votes in the 2019 state elections. The right-wing extremist scene has built its own economic network – with security and cleaning companies, fashion labels and martial arts groups.
Union: More and more teachers are looking for advice
All of this has consequences. Alfred Roos, managing director of the Regional Offices for Education, Integration and Democracy (RAA), said that in regions like southern Brandenburg, where right-wing extremists are strongly represented in society, this is also reflected in the schools. Günther Fuchs, regional head of the Education and Science Union (GEW), says about right-wing extremism in schools: “It’s not yet a conflagration, but it’s increasing.” There are increasing numbers of teachers who are therefore looking for advice from the GEW.
“Fortunately, incidents like those in the Spree-Neisse district have so far been the exception,” said the state student council. But this problem must be “outlawed”. “Schools should do their utmost to counter such tendencies in the student body.”
School counselor Roos reports on schools that have faced particular challenges in dealing with right-wing extremism in the past and have also dealt with this successfully. “Generally speaking, these schools have come a long way because there are no short-term solutions,” he said. The Amadeu Antonio Foundation criticized the fact that right-wing extremism is far too often dismissed as trivial in schools.
