A little Nazi here; a little Nazi there

German Neo-Nazi group plans march
Rally comes on concentration camp anniversary

German neo-Nazis will join their Czech counterparts on a march through Plzen on Jan. 19, Týden reports.

Although Czech organizers have officially said the march is for freedom of speech, the Germans are calling it an anti-Jewish demonstration, Týden wrote.

The Plzen magistrate says it had no choice but to approve the march because it did not have any information to justify prohibiting the event. Plzen police claim they cannot intervene because the march does not pose a threat.

Nonetheless, a previous march, planned for Jan. 26, was banned by the police because "it is expected that the true reason for the demosntration is the suppression of the civic rights of citizens due to their religion, and it will lead to hate-mongering," a police report cited by Hospodárské noviny on Wednesday states.

Jan. 18, 1942 is the date when the first transport of 3,000 Jews left Plzen for Terezín. Only 200 of them survived.

On the day of the march, the town's Jewish citizens are planning to hold a small memorial service of its own, Jirí Löwy, the head of the Plzen Jewish Community told TYDEN.CZ.

"It will be a brief, peaceful act of piety, during which, I hope, the police will protect us. We cannot do anything about the Nazis. We can only fight them by reminding people of that which they deny: the Holocaust," he said.

The German side has other plans.

"The date of the first transport of Jews to a concentration camp makes the media panic. We'll put the rabbis on the run," the neo-Nazi group writes online.

However Löwy says he is not afraid of any violent confrontations.

"The right-wing extremists may be stupid, but they have lawyers along at these events. They will tell them how to avoid criminal activities and statements. They will be trying to avoid a conflict just like we are. At worst, they might moo at us," he said.

Via The Prague Post



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