The Guardian

I live among the neo-Nazis in eastern Germany. And it’s terrifying | Anonymous

Chemnitz is the tip of an iceberg. Media equivocation and a failure to prosecute hate crimes has made the far right stronger
There were voices saying we should try to understand those among the protesters who were ‘of goodwill’. Photograph: Martin Divisek/EPA

Media coverage of racist riots in the east German city of Chemnitz earlier this year showed just the tip of the iceberg: what lurks beneath the surface remains hidden.

I’m a university student and an antifascism activist living in Saxony, not far from Chemnitz. For a long time I underestimated the extent of rightwing extremism in Germany. Before I moved to this area a few years ago I didn’t know Saxony, and took antifascism for granted. I’d never come across “real” Nazis or violent racists.

I grew up in Berlin, I’m the child of a metropolis where it

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