Partygoers on Sylt are chanting racist slogans – and it’s not just politicians who are shocked. The operators of the Pony Club say they are receiving death threats.
After racist chants by young partygoers on Sylt became known, the operators of the Pony Club in Kampen say they have received death threats.
“We are being insulted in the worst possible way and receive death threats,” they write on the club’s Instagram profile. They also published a sequence from a surveillance video that shows the scene from a different angle. “To all those who keep asking: ‘Didn’t anyone notice that?’ You can see for yourself that the majority in the video are having fun, while a small group is chanting something that is incompatible with our core values.”
After much deliberation, the decision was made to publish the video “to protect ourselves, our employees and our loyal guests.” In recent days, the restaurant’s operators had already stressed that the staff had not noticed anything about the incident. Media had previously reported on it.
The well-known bar Pony filed a criminal complaint after the short video became known, and the police’s state security department is investigating for incitement to hatred and the use of unconstitutional symbols.
The racist chants of young partygoers on Sylt are alarming politicians and stirring up fears of a shift to the right that extends into the social elite. The Federal Government’s anti-Semitism commissioner, Felix Klein, said at the weekend that misanthropic ideology is now clearly “part of pop culture”. And it is socially acceptable in circles that must be aware that foreigners make a significant contribution to prosperity. Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck (Greens) said: “Anyone who rants, excludes and shouts fascist slogans like this is attacking what holds our country together.” Bundestag President Bärbel Bas (SPD) called for civil courage in such situations.
Made a “very bad mistake”
According to Bild, one of those involved, who makes a gesture in the video that is reminiscent of the Hitler salute, wrote on social media: “I apologize to everyone we may have hurt with this.” He said he had made a “very bad mistake” and was ashamed. He stated that he had turned himself in to the police and wanted to face the legal consequences.
In the video, which went viral on Thursday and is said to have been made at Pentecost, you can see and hear young people shouting racist slogans to the tune of the more than 20-year-old party hit “L’amour toujours” by Gigi D’Agostino. They sing “Germany for the Germans – foreigners out!” seemingly unashamedly and exuberantly. None of the bystanders seem to be bothered by this. The anti-Semitism commissioner Klein told the editorial network Germany (Sunday) that this is evidence of the penetration of misanthropic ideology into society.
President of the Bundestag Bas told Phoenix: “When you see such unsavory performances, you really wonder what is going on in the minds of these young people. I hope they show a lot of civil courage and that others will stand up against it.”
For some of those involved, the roar had a quick aftermath: The advertising agency Serviceplan Group announced that it had dismissed an employee involved without notice. Hamburg influencer Milena Karl also said she had dismissed an employee who was there. “I am a migrant myself and as an expectant mother, everything that can be seen in this video represents a society in which I would not want to raise my child.”
The restaurant’s operators wrote on Instagram: “If our staff had noticed such behavior at any time, we would have reacted immediately. We would have immediately informed the police and filed a criminal complaint. We have now been able to do that.” There were several hundred guests at the party.
DJ Gigi D’Agostino, whose song was messed up, made it clear that it was all about love. “My song ‘L’amour toujours’ is about a wonderful, big and intense feeling that connects people,” said D’Agostino. Another central theme is the joy of the beauty of being together.
Merz: “Can no longer be explained by alcohol consumption”
Economics Minister Habeck called the video scenes disturbing and absolutely unacceptable. He told the newspapers of the Funke media group that Germany had managed to become a strong democracy built on respect and plurality. “It is our job to protect that.” CDU Federal Chairman Friedrich Merz asked: “What is actually going on in these people’s heads? It can no longer be explained by alcohol consumption.”
With regard to the racist chants, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier expressed concern about the brutalization of political etiquette. He also said at the Democracy Festival in Bonn that it was evidently not just “the marginalized, the left behind” who were becoming radicalized. “Instead, this is a radicalization that is also taking place at least in parts of the middle of society.” On Friday, Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) had already described the slogans as “disgusting” and “unacceptable.”
Expert Pia Lamberty also believes that the Sylt video shows a normalization of right-wing extremist content in society. “Without any form of opposition, social norms are simply broken,” said the co-director of the Center for Monitoring, Analysis and Strategy (Cemas), which investigates radicalization tendencies and conspiracy theories on the Internet.
Incidents also in Bavaria and Lower Saxony
The Rotes Kliff club in the upscale town of Kampen also reported a “racism incident” at Pentecost. The people concerned were expelled from the club and are now banned from the premises, the operators wrote on Instagram on Friday.
But Sylt is not an isolated case. In recent months there have been repeated incidents in which Nazi slogans were shouted while the song was being sung – for example in Bavaria and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. In Upper Palatinate, the police are investigating a possible incident at a carnival parade in February.
In Erlangen – as on Sylt – two men chanted racist slogans to the song “L’amour toujours” at the Bergkirchweih. As the police announced on Saturday, the suspects, aged 21 and 26, were banned from entering the area on Friday evening – and the State Security Service has launched an investigation.
Already on Friday it was announced that a similar case had occurred in Lower Saxony at Pentecost. Racist slogans were also shouted at the shooting festival in Löningen, Lower Saxony, west of Cloppenburg, including to the tune of “L’amour toujours”. State security is also investigating there.