Radicalization of the Corona walkers: Ms. G. loses control - "Fight to the end"
Created: 2022-02-20Updated: 2022-02-20 5:16 PM
By: Verena Moeckl
In a secret telegram chat group, Ms. G. is planning to visit the politicians' homes during the next Corona walk.
© Sergei Konkov/dpa
Corona walker Dagmar G. has been finding it increasingly difficult to control her anger at politics lately.
Eventually, the police had to get involved.
How could it come to this?
Dachau – "Fight for my children and beloved grandchildren to the end, if necessary, by any means necessary." The words in the secret Telegram chat group of the Corona walkers do not come from a right-wing supporter of the III
Wegs, but by Dagmar G. - a mother of three and grandmother from the district of Dachau.
She has taken the path of the unvaccinated and will continue to do so, no matter what, she writes.
"You could find out where Löwl, Hartmann and company live." Their plan: to visit the mayor's houses and demonstrate there with whistles.
Because going for a walk would not be enough in the long run.
The words from the telegram chat are making waves.
The police are alerted.
She then monitors the homes of politicians.
Who is Dagmar G., and why is a grandmother ready for such attempts at intimidation?
G. is willing to talk to us.
First on the phone, then she invites us to her home.
The condition: no full name and no photo on which she can be recognized.
Corona walks: How people from the middle of society radicalize themselves
Dagmar G. lives in the district of Dachau.
The 58-year-old has an ordinary job and ordinary hobbies: guitar, hiking, dancing.
Ms G. is the type of person who prefers to take globules and plantain instead of painkillers and antibiotics.
She's a vegetarian, has a dog from an animal welfare organization, brings toads safely across the street.
Incubators for birds hang on their balcony.
She recently voted for the ÖDP, she says.
Because of the bee colony desire.
Ms. G. is interested in what is happening in her district, reads local news and does voluntary work in local associations.
She is well connected in her place.
A good relationship with the neighbors is important to her.
During the pandemic, she does the shopping for her neighbors.
She left the church.
But she is still a believer, says Ms. G. She is sitting at her dining table.
A wooden cross hangs on the wall surrounded by family photos.
"I pray to God every day that this madness will stop." She sighs.
Anger and frustration at Corona politics: Lateral thinkers radicalize themselves
The madness began for them with the start of the vaccination campaign last year.
Ms G., who had never been vaccinated at this time apart from a tetanus shot, would like to wait and see.
She has doubts and worries.
She is not against vaccination in principle.
But false news and rumors fuel their fears of vaccination so much that even scientific facts can no longer change it.
The Dachau supply physician Dr.
Christian Günzel explains in an interview about the corona vaccination.
According to him, fears are unfounded as the vaccines are safe.
"My friends and parents didn't respect my decision," she says.
The sadness in her voice is unmistakable.
Ms G., who always makes eye contact during the conversation, strays with her gaze.
She fights back tears as she continues: "They called me antisocial and lacking in solidarity." Some of her friends have turned away.
Her parents no longer wanted to go on vacation with her as usual.
"That put a lot of strain on me." The family is divided.
Ms G. no longer understands the world.
Her anger at the Corona policy is great.
She feels pressured.
"I've never had the compulsion to take any medication," she says, shaking her head uncomprehendingly.
She is disappointed in the politicians.
She was lied to about compulsory vaccination.
"I wish for honest and comprehensible communication and no roller coaster ride."
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Allies on Corona walks: Lateral thinkers among themselves
Her frustration is so great that for the first time she thinks about ever going to the polls again.
Her disenchantment with politics is growing from month to month and has been driving her onto the streets since autumn.
To the Monday walks in the old town of Dachau.
Ms. G. takes her “light of hope” with her on Monday walks.
False news fuels the madness She finds allies on the street © Möckl
Ms G. gets up from the dining table and reaches into a black shopping basket that is in the immediate vicinity.
Her “light of hope” appears, as Ms. G. calls the hand-sized blue lantern that she takes with her on her Monday walks.
On the street she meets allies.
people who share their concerns.
People with whom she can share her experiences.
There she feels understood.
Right-wing infiltration of the Corona protests
She doesn't know anything about the New Right mingling with the walkers.
"It hurts me to be lumped together with right-wing extremists," she says.
Despite everything, she wants to continue taking part in Corona walks.
She regrets the words she wrote in the telegram chat.
"I can't say what kind of devil got into me." She would never do something like that.
She no longer remembers how she got into the secret telegram group.
In any case, she did not get Telegram because of Corona, she has been using the news service for eight years.
Dagmar G. energetically unites the question of whether she would describe herself as a corona denier.
But she has nothing against the term lateral thinker.
Because that was never a bad thing in her eyes.
Home caretaker Norbert Göttler no longer understands the supposed naivety.
In an interview, he talks about right-wing populism and the Corona walks, and warns of the decadence of the middle-class.
More current news from the district of Dachau can be found here.
