German Neo-Nazi party open squatted social centre

international | eu | other press

Thursday July 23, 2009 00:40

by hogworts - ( = iosaf )

The site of the former Hotel Gerhus in the village of Fassberg in the German state of Lower Saxony is now squatted by a neoNazi group loyal to the far-right German NPD deputy leader Jürgen Rieger. Although the building is in receivership, and despite the little village never reportedly having had the pleasure of a squat or social centre before, the 8000 metre squared piece of real estate is now breaking news in the German language. A mostly ignored press statement issued by Rieger last Friday announced his activists would occupy the premises after a leasing deal went sour (for the nazi's) & they felt they were being ripped off by someone in the estate agents' sector for offering them the space. Accordingly in the last 24 hours German NeoNazi's have indeed occupied the site - with the intention of turning the 70+ plus bedroomed building into a "training, educational & political revival" centre.

This may probably mean a lot more than showing vids, cooking stew, growing soya or trying trapeze. It might indeed meaning decorating the garden with gnomes(*) giving Hitler salutes and denying the Holocaust 24 hours a day 7 days a week or as they generally do these days simply talk about the efficiency of ovens over 24 hours a day and 7 days a week without going into the systematic denial of civil and human rights of many many millions of Europeans through the the 1930's and 1940's who were systematically stripped of their citizenship, educational qualifications, rights to residency, rights to travel, rights to movement, rights to marry unhindered and then put without trial to slave labour.

- didn't even mention IBM or tattoos in that.

Whereas many of us will wonder at the NPD using such tactics, I'd simply reflect on the irony that the accepted European squatting symbol has never really been comfortably explained beyond its runic roots in Nazi symbolism. Although of course until the events of the last 24 hours not many of us would have felt the need to quibble on the fine points of semiotic etymology (if such a category may exist seperately from teleology).

Like we know a squat is a squat - don't we?
& we know a social centre is a social centre?
& we know that little rune in its circle is "ours" & isn't for turning by the fascists & Nazi's?

Coz they're not going to go squatting buildings and usurping, invading, entering without by or leave on our sociological and psychological territory of rebellion, autonomy, indepedence, self-sufficiency & especially not in modern Germany where most of Europe's decent squats are to be found.

they're not entering un-invited on our patch - are they? (**)

sources in [German language] ::
http://www.zeit.de/online/2009/30/neonazis-npd-rieger-i...age=2
http://www.welt.de/hamburg/article4171680/Neonazi-Hotel....html
http://www.sueddeutsche.de/h5U388/2976251/Neonazis-bese....html
http://www1.ndr.de/nachrichten/niedersachsen/landhotel1....html
http://www.sn-online.de/content/view/full/207694

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related back articles on the contemporary German NeoNazi movement and its irony :

"Spooky German mainstreet viral Racism : Pizza & Hitler a Miscellany"
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/83942
"Burning Books - the Pretzien "Bücherverbrennung""
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/81226
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(*) explanatory note on the sarcastic references to gnomes giving Hitler salutes in the introduction for those readers who may not be abreast of recent German State prosecutions under the laws meant to contain Nazi-ism and its revival :
"Nazi-salute gnome 'not illegal' " : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8163918.stm

(**) if you go research the squat symbol on the internet, you'll find that dismal post-wikipedian "citation needed" message. Which generally indicates either us type of people who put encyclopedias together haven't made up our mind about it or worse it's escaped our attention alltogether. So perhaps the Nazi's are just about to get their symbol back........Maybe we need a new one.......Or just let's hope the cops evict them sharpish???