“Shame yourself!” writes a Twitter user. Others found the announcement by Ulm lawyer Markus Haintz to be “disgusting”, “disgusting” and “disgusting” to demonstrate on November 9 of all days for imprisoned pandemic deniers and conspiracy ideologues (Haintz: “political prisoners”).
The rally, which began at 6 p.m. on Max-Joseph-Platz with around 300 to 350 participants instead of the registered 800 people, according to the police, was “a slap in the face to all the victims,” said Micky Wenngatz, chairwoman of the “Munich is multicoloured”. She announced: “We will not allow right-wing extremists and anti-Semites to freely spread their slogans on the anniversary of November 9, 1938” and called for protests. At 6 p.m., around 250 counter-demonstrators formed on Max-Joseph-Platz. Booing and a few short chants like “Nazis out!” sounded. There were heated debates at the barriers.
About 250 people gathered for a counter-demonstration on the square.
(Photo: Robert Haas)
The demonstration march initiated by Haintz is dedicated, among other things, to the Munich propagandist of the anti-Semitic conspiracy cult “QAnon” Oliver Janich, who has been arrested in the Philippines and publicly called for the killing of German politicians and a Jewish billionaire. A convicted inciter to hatred also announced that he would use the demo as a solidarity rally for an imprisoned Shoah denier. A deliberate provocation in view of the date and the commemoration ceremony for the victims of the November pogroms of 1938 taking place at the same time in the nearby Old Town Hall.
At the commemoration hour in the old town hall, Charlotte Knobloch, the president of the Jewish community, addressed the nearby demonstration of the “lateral thinkers” scene: “The political forces who want to unleash the hatred of our history again will turn this country into the Fall into the abyss if we let them. Everything my father hoped for and which became reality after 1949 – they want to destroy.” Parties like the AfD and groups like those that are moving through downtown Munich at the same time are a threat to democracy. She thanked everyone “who are against hate on the streets and raise their voices”.
The Bavarian State Government Commissioner for Jewish Life and Against Anti-Semitism, Ludwig Spaenle, had sharply criticized the planned rally. “The lateral thinker scene and many of its sympathizers” should know: “Anyone who refers to November 9 as a fateful day in Germany and calls for a rally in Munich on that date to demonstrate in favor of supposedly ‘political prisoners’ is following an unfortunate tradition , which failed bloodily in Munich 99 years ago.”
Spaenle was referring to the Hitler Putsch, which was also defeated on November 9 at the Feldherrnhalle. Not far away – on the square in front of the opera – the parade of the conspiracy ideology scene began on Wednesday evening. In recent years, neo-Nazis in Munich have repeatedly tried to march to the Feldherrnhalle on November 9th. “Civil society and the authorities are called upon,” said Spaenle, to prevent misuse of this date.
The organizer of the rally, Markus Haintz, denied in a statement published on Tuesday “that he wanted to provoke victims of the Nazi dictatorship through the demonstration”. The originally chosen location right next to the official commemoration, the date: all more or less coincidental, claims the lawyer from the lateral thinker scene – although his demo calls with the hashtag #muc911 were aimed at “German fateful day” from the start. On Wednesday, Haintz published pictures of the Reich flags banned at the rally on social networks. To point out the ban as he wrote. Haintz announced that he would exclude anyone who wears them from the meeting, much to the displeasure of a number of supporters. Anyone who has forbidden symbols with them is paid by the state as a provocateur, he claimed.
Charlotte Knobloch had already asked municipal authorities on Friday to do everything necessary “so that this demonstration does not take place”. The constitutional state must defend itself against its enemies, the Munich honorary citizen had demanded. A ban on a demonstration represents the “ultima ratio” in the right of assembly, explained a spokesman for the Munich district administration department on request, and can only be used as a last resort.
However, the city has issued numerous restrictions, including “the wearing of clothing and the use of means of communication with inscriptions (…) that are based on or depict a gate of a concentration camp” or symbols reminiscent of “Jewish stars”. Slogans like “CoV-2”, “unvaccinated”, “Vaccination sets you free”, “The syringe sets you free”, “Dr. Mengele” or “Zion” are prohibited. These restrictions are necessary because otherwise “there is a high probability” that public safety and order would be endangered. The meeting had not yet started when senior public prosecutor Andreas Franck, the anti-Semitism commissioner of the Bavarian judiciary, was made aware of a poster that could incite hate speech. Target of the photo collage: Jews.
According to the planning, the rally should lead past the district court and the palace of justice to the criminal justice center on Sandstrasse. Further rallies are to take place there and on the return to Max-Joseph-Platz. The Munich police are on duty with 300 officers.