Current Events > Holocaust memorial recreated next to far right German politician's house

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/25/world/europe/germany-bjorn-hocke-bornhagen.html

No one in the village saw it coming, least of all Bjrn Hcke, a quiet and well-liked local father of four who also happens to be Germanys most notorious far-right politician.

Last January, at a rally in Dresden, Mr. Hcke questioned the guiding precept of modern Germany the countrys culpability in World War II and the Holocaust calling on Germans to make a 180 degree turn in the way they viewed their history.

Germans were the only people in the world to plant a monument of shame in the heart of their capital, he said, referring to the Holocaust memorial in Berlin.

And then, one recent Wednesday morning, Mr. Hcke woke up in his rural home to find the Holocaust memorial outside his bedroom window: 24 rectangular concrete slabs, one section of the original monument, rebuilt to scale on the property immediately neighboring his.

The only difference: The slabs had been rotated 180 degrees.

We wanted to remind Mr. Hcke that he can turn German history however much he likes, it doesnt change, said Philipp Ruch, co-founder of a Berlin-based artist collective known as the Center for Political Beauty and, at least on paper, Mr. Hckes new neighbor.

Mr. Hcke, a history teacher turned local chief of the Alternative for Germany, or AfD, has called the village his refuge and locus of inspiration. But behind its idyllic facade, Bornhagen reflects the new, confusing reality of a Germany where polite political consensus and demographic homogeneity are breaking down, and where the intimate and ideological live side by side.

The far-right AfD won 34 percent of the vote in Bornhagen during the most recent elections, more than twice the national average. But neighbors are neighbors. Supporters of the left-leaning Greens go hunting with AfD voters here. Recent refugees live peacefully in the village, too.

Until the memorial appeared overnight on Nov. 22, these contradictions had coexisted peacefully at least on the surface. But the art installation has upset village life. For many, it has forced a conversation they would have preferred to avoid.

We dont talk about politics, said a friend of Mr. Hckes wife, who like many villagers did not want her name used.

But Mr. Hckes remarks, which had shocked even some in his own party though it decided not to expel him, have made that mind-your-own-business custom harder to abide for some. And they have raised a challenging question that goes far beyond this village: How should Germans deal with the rise of the far right, now that an openly nationalist party has entered Parliament for the first time since World War II?

For Mr. Ruch and his fellow artists, the answer is clear: People like Mr. Hcke deserve not one millimeter.

He broke the mother of all taboos, he challenged the founding narrative of modern Germany and he got away with it, said Mr. Ruch, who was born in Dresden and now lives in Berlin.

We learn from our past so it does not happen again, he added. That is who we are. That is our strength.

For 10 months, the artists discreetly scouted out the village. They registered a business to get local license plates, rented the property next to Mr. Hckes house, and erected a tent in the garden to put together the replica memorial while shielded from view. Neighbors were told the tent was hiding a surprise for an engagement party.

Aggressive humanists, the artists call themselves. Terrorists, Mr. Hcke calls them. He has tried to have them evicted, so far to no avail: Their rental contract runs until 2022.

In recent weeks, school classes came to visit the memorial, far-right opponents slashed the tires of cars parked outside the site, and far-left supporters held an anti-fascist march...

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Awesome move. Fuck that nazi
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Fake news
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Terrorists, Mr. Hcke calls them.

I do not think that word means what you think it means.
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iamintents posted...

Awesome move. Fuck that nazi

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Delta_F14 posted...

iamintents posted...

Awesome move. Fuck that nazi

Sometimes the shoe fits.
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Delta_F14 posted...

iamintents posted...

Awesome move. Fuck that nazi

The dude is a German nationalist who publicly gripes about Holocaust memorials.
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Beautiful. Fuck the AFD.

Also he sounds like one of the (American) CEmen here who complain about how much public reverence Germany pays to its past misdeeds
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