Overview

• Mayor Christine Herntier broke a years-long silence with a July 18 letter detailing a sharp rise in neo-Nazi graffiti, vandalism and public-space defacement in the 22,000-resident town.
• Herntier has appealed for police reinforcements and Verfassungsschutz involvement, while proposing private security patrols, CCTV at hotspots and the creation of new community meeting spaces.
• Victims’ advisers report that teachers, students and local democracy activists are gripped by fear as right-wing extremist groups openly recruit adolescents.
• Brandenburg’s intelligence agency logged a record 3,650 right-wing extremists last year, with nearly 40 percent classified as violent and youth networks expanding online.
• Interior Minister René Wilke pledged an on-site meeting with Verfassungsschutz, stepped-up police presence and a focus on media-literacy programs in schools to counter further radicalization.