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Numerous people take part in a demonstration against right-wing extremism on Opernplatz.
© Moritz Frankenberg/dpa
The protest in Lower Saxony against right-wing extremism and the AfD continues over the weekend.
Tens of thousands of people take part in rallies.
Defense Minister Pistorius has a clear message.
Osnabrück - Tens of thousands of people took to the streets again at rallies and demonstrations against the right in many cities in Lower Saxony over the weekend.
At a rally in Osnabrück on Saturday, the police counted a peak of 25,000 people; the organizers spoke of 30,000 participants.
There were also demonstrations on Sunday, for example in Leer with, according to the police, around 350 people or in Melle in the Osnabrück district with up to 4,500 participants.
Around 300 people demonstrated on the island of Wangerooge, and according to police there were up to 6,000 in Bremerhaven. According to the police, it remained peaceful.
Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) warned in Osnabrück against the AfD that the party wanted a system change.
“That means nothing other than: They want to go back to the dark times of racial madness, discrimination, inequality and injustice,” explained Pistorius, who was formerly the mayor of Osnabrück.
He called the thought games of right-wing politicians about “remigration” a “Wannsee Conference 2.0”.
The plan is to expel and deport millions of people from the center of this country.
“It is now clear to everyone that our freedom is in danger, our way of life is in danger, our democracy is in danger.”
At the Wannsee Conference in January 1942, high-ranking Nazi officials discussed the systematic murder of up to eleven million Jews in Europe.
The aim of the meeting in a villa on Wannsee was to accelerate the implementation of the genocide.
The media company Correctiv made public a meeting of radical right-wingers on November 25th in Potsdam, in which AfD politicians as well as individual members of the CDU and the very conservative Values Union took part.
The former head of the Identitarian Movement in Austria, Martin Sellner, said he spoke about “remigration” at the meeting.
When right-wing extremists use this term, they usually mean that large numbers of people of foreign origin should leave the country - even under duress.
The rally under the motto “Osnabrück shows its colors - for democracy, against fascism” was organized by a broad alliance of more than 40 groups.
Posters read things like “This is where the silent majority speaks” or “Voting for the AfD is so 1933.”
According to police, around 4,000 people demonstrated in Cuxhaven, and in Cloppenburg the police counted around 3,000 participants.
According to police estimates, there were also 3,000 people in Papenburg for a rally in the city; in Emden, according to police, there were 4,000. According to police, around 4,000 people gathered in Goslar.
According to police, a demonstration with around 2,500 participants took place in downtown Winsen in the Harburg district on Saturday.
Around 2,500 people also met in Buchholz.
The police said that five young people set off firecrackers in the immediate vicinity of the meeting.
Four of them were identified and, like the fifth young person, they now face criminal and administrative offense proceedings.
There were also demonstrations in smaller towns on Saturday: In Uslar in the Northeim district, around 600 people demonstrated in front of the historic town hall, and in Jever in the Friesland district, around 1,500 people demonstrated against right-wing extremism.
In Dannenberg in the Lüchow-Dannenberg district, around 1,000 people took to the streets against the right under the motto “We've had enough”.
On Friday evening, around 9,000 people gathered in downtown Nordhorn for an anti-right rally.
All participant numbers come from the police.
The police authorities said the gatherings were peaceful.
Pistorius emphasized in Osnabrück that democracy requires commitment and passion: “The truth is that democracy cannot defend itself.
We have to do that, the Democrats.” Indifference to democracy leaves them at the mercy of the fascists.
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The chairwoman of the German Federation of Trade Unions, Yasmin Fahimi, also spoke in Osnabrück.
“I will not allow myself to be evicted and I will not allow others to be evicted,” she shouted to applause from the crowd.
A confrontation must be sought with people who openly show sympathy for the AfD, for example.
The demonstrations against the right are also supported by the State Association of Muslims (Schura), among others.
“We have already tweeted that we support the call and also ask our communities to take part in these demonstrations,” said Shura spokesman Enes Esatbeyoğlu.
Since last week there have been anti-right rallies in many German cities.
According to police estimates, up to 45,000 people gathered in Bremen last weekend.
Around 35,000 people gathered in Hanover.
dpa