Germany’s Special Responsibility

Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder conceded this week that Germans have paid too little heed to right-wing violence against foreigners, which has now become virtually a daily occurrence. Schroeder spoke at a memorial service for an African immigrant who was beaten to death by three neo-Nazi thugs in the eastern town of Dessau. A day earlier, a court had imposed a life sentence on one of the killers and sent two juveniles convicted with him to prison for nine years. The jurist said he intended the severe penalties to be a message that xenophobic attacks must stop.

Willi Dressen, who retired this week as head of a special prosecutor’s office that for more than 40 years has tracked Nazi war criminals, is one who supports tougher sentences. The legal system, he says, has been far too lenient with neo-Nazis, just as it was earlier with Nazi war crimes suspects. One suggested reason for this is that Germans don’t readily identify with hate crime victims, who are almost always immigrants. Some also blame social conditions for the violence.

Though attacks have taken place throughout Germany, a disproportionate percentage have occurred in the economically lagging eastern part of the country. Despite massive state aid poured into the east since reunification 10 years ago, per capita GDP is still only about half that in the west, while unemployment is more than twice as high. The east suffers one other key disadvantage: It is two generations behind the west in absorbing democratic values.

Schroeder recognizes that Germany’s history imposes a special responsibility to stamp out extremism, and he has promised to redouble efforts to end attacks on foreigners. Stiffer penalties are one approach. A ban on violent neo-Nazi groups is also being considered. Xenophobic thuggery is never legitimate, whatever its root causes.