In September, after twelve years, Martin Becher gives up the management of the Bavaria-wide “Project Office Against Right-Wing Extremism” based in Bad Alexandersbad, Franconia. A conversation about neo-Nazis and “right-wing extremists”, the poison of hatred and a day in the life of Björn Höcke.
SZ: Mr. Becher, you should stop when it’s most beautiful. In your case, as far as the threat from the far right is concerned, isn’t that where it’s at its worst?
Martin Becher: In the future I will take care of democracy promotion at the regional church, so stay on topic. But of course: If you were to judge my work according to whether there were fewer extremes on the right after my term of office, I could only react with “ashes on my head”. In that sense, the result would be terrible. But if you include how much society is raising awareness of the issue and how willing the Democrats are to cooperate, then a lot has changed for the better. But it is by no means the case that I am leaving the position and that it could be hired. But on the contrary.
The educator and political scientist Martin Becher is the managing director of the “Bavarian Alliance for Tolerance” and head of the project office against right-wing extremism at the Evangelical Education and Conference Center in Bad Alexandersbad.
(Photo: Marcelo Hernandez/Funke Photo S)
You will get a successor.
There will be one person who will be introduced in October. What you can also see: The Bavarian Alliance for Tolerance with its 90 member organizations is now very well established, which is also a success story of these twelve years.
The project office was founded in 2007 and is based in Bad Alexandersbad in northern Upper Franconia. Sonneberg, where an AfD district administrator will rule in the future, borders directly on northern Upper Franconia.
It is well known that Sonneberg is the only non-Bavarian district that belongs to the metropolitan region of Nuremberg. We have already closely observed developments there beforehand, and we mustn’t stop our gaze at the Bavarian borders. In the southern Thuringian district of Hildburghausen, for example, the largest neo-Nazi crowd since the Wunsiedel marches took place in 2017, with 6,000 right-wing extremists. And now the election in Sonneberg. Of course, that affects us greatly.
A right-wing extremist center was to be established in a former inn in Oberprex in Upper Franconia.
(Photo: David Ebener/dpa)
Is the impression deceptive or is there a lively exchange between right-wing cadres across the borders of federal states? For example, the man who wanted to establish a right-wing center in Oberprex in Upper Franconia is now a district councilor in the Vogtland district in southern Saxony.
We’ve been observing this for a long time: the extreme right is looking for the best conditions to act and agitate. The leaders of the now banned neo-Nazi organization “Freies Netz Süd” and the right-wing extremist small party “Third Way” are native East Germans who have meanwhile moved to Franconia. Until the pressure of persecution there became so great that they migrated to Saxony and Brandenburg. High AfD cadres, in turn, come from western Germany – and have chosen the east as their political home.
In 1980, publisher Shlomo Levin and his partner Frida Poeschke were murdered in Erlangen with anti-Semitic motivation.
(Photo: picture alliance/dpa)
In 2011, an attack was made on the car of the long-standing spokesman for the Gräfenberg Citizens’ Forum, Michael Helmbrecht. Right-wing extremists had repeatedly visited the small town of Gräfenberg in Upper Franconia for rallies.
(Photo: oh)
Franconia has been badly afflicted since the 1970s: the Hoffmann military sports group, the anti-Semitic double murder in Erlangen, the terrorist attack by the Nuremberg neo-Nazi Oxner, neo-Nazi marches in Wunsiedel and Gräfenberg, the attack on the car by Michael Helmbrecht, former spokesman for “Gräfenberg ist bunt” , the Oberprex case, the NSU murders. In addition, the forbidden “Free Network South” and the “Third Way”, both strongly anchored in Franconia. And now Sonneberg, cultural Franconia so to speak. In Franconia, the NSDAP was successful earlier than anywhere else. Coincidence – or is the womb still fertile?
The conditions for action for neo-Nazis were undoubtedly favorable in Franconia, at least until around 2014. However, neo-Nazis were the core issue when I took up office in 2011 – hence the location of the project site in Bad Alexandersbad, near Wunsiedel. Today’s challenge, however, is no longer primarily neo-Nazis, but new structures such as Reichsbürger, Identitarians or Pegida with their pull effect on a right-wing part of mainstream society. The scene is much more complex, differentiated, far-reaching.
Dealing with this scene shouldn’t get any easier.
It was difficult to reach a consensus not to talk to neo-Nazis. But now? If 20 percent of the population votes on the extreme right, you can’t exclude them all and say: I don’t talk to them. The strategies for dealing with the far right have become much more demanding. As a result, I cannot spread optimism about leaving my successor to easier times. But that’s not why I’m resigning. Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, spokesman for the alliance, stops. His successor should have someone new at his side.
Still, isn’t it incredibly grueling to have to deal with right-wing extremists for twelve years?
What you are addressing is a very big requirement for people who have been confronted with this scene for a long time. You have to be careful not to get poisoned. The permanent hate doesn’t leave you untouched. My advantage was always: We are the project office against Right-wing extremism, but I’m also the managing director of the “Bavarian Alliance for Tolerance”. That means I’ve also worked extensively with people who are committed to human dignity. And these are incredibly positive people.
In Wunsiedel, the number of democrats taking part in demonstrations against right-wing extremists continued to increase. Here, in 2006, participants sat under the motto ‘Wunsiedel is colorful not brown!’ a sign.
(Photo: Armin Weigel/dpa)
Of the kind that blocked the AfD march from Würzburg last Sunday and made it a success for Democrats?
A wonderful example. On that day, Björn Höcke drove from Thuringia to the university town in Lower Franconia and experienced a debacle – in view of the clear majority of the young, colorful Würzburg. Then he drives to rural Sonneberg and celebrates a victory that is historic for him. This happens at the same time, less than 130 kilometers apart, Franconian is spoken here and there. We must not see one without the other. We have to acknowledge that our living environments are extremely divergent. The cities have become incredibly differentiated, the differences to rural regions are increasing. People in Lauscha, in the district of Sonneberg, may find the policies that are being pursued for Würzburg inappropriate for them. On Sunday it was like watching under a magnifying glass.
So what can democratic politics do against the strengthening of the far right?
First, do substantive politics and talk about it – that’s the vacancy of the AfD. Secondly, refrain from mumbling about identity politics, because that is the sphere of the populists. Third, strengthen actors who connect: serious press, public broadcasters or a fair electoral law are such centripetal forces. Fourth, resist the temptation to make small gains in territory at the expense of democratic competitors – to the greater detriment of democracy.