NCJ Number
165571
Editor(s)
U Kloeckner,
B Wittleder
Date Published
1996
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This report presents data on violent offenses with proven or suspected right-wing motivation in Germany from 1990 through 1995 and provides a historical and social context for the trend in such crimes; also discussed are popular support for foreign residents, right-wing organizations, and government countermeasures.
Abstract
Violent offenses with proven or suspected right-wing motivation increased from 309 in 1990 to 2,639 in 1992 and then decreased in successive years to 1,047 in 1995. From 1994 to 1995 violent offenses that involved anti-Semitism decreased from 41 to 27. Studies of offenders convicted of right-wing crimes found that more than three-quarters were 20 years old or younger. Nearly all acts of violence were committed under the influence of alcohol, and only a small number of perpetrators were apparently motivated by a coherent right-wing ideology. The 1991-92 increase in right-wing offenses is linked with the dramatic changes in Germany and Europe during this period. At the height of right- wing violence in the winter of 1992-93, more than 3 million Germans joined candlelight marches in Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, Bonn, and many other cities to show their support for foreigners living in Germany. In 1995 the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution recorded 46,100 Germans with extreme right-wing leanings. There are 96 radical right-wing organizations or groups in Germany. According to the Basic Law (Germany's Constitution), political parties and groups that seek to impair or abolish the free democratic basic order, or endanger the existence of the Federal Republic of Germany, are unconstitutional. This paper also discusses police and legal efforts against hate crimes, American Neo-Nazi ties, the prosecution of hate crimes, and education and open information policy.