Hamburg, Germany – On the Streets against right-wing

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“Hamburg, will stay colorful”

Secretly, I was wondering when -and if people- would finally wake up. Part of me has now almost accepted the right-wing move all over the world because it seems so many people are fine with it, or they just don’t know -or remember- what it means, and what a catastrophic impact and effects it can have -and will have- on our lives.

As I am getting older, I have learned to accept the fact that the youth will make this world their world and that many of our old values -and some of our nonsense- will disappear for good.

Didn’t our grandparents feel the same way? I suppose they did. I believe every older generation looks with astonishment at the youth and wonders why they just won’t listen to our wisdom, and then some of us remember that we didn’t listen much either.

And just when I am nearly willing to accept the unacceptable, something happens that gives my spine more strength, my stubbornness more new energy, and my beliefs more support.

A good friend of mine, who lives with his family in Hamburg, Germany sent me the pictures last night.

The Afd (Alternative for Germany) a party that has gotten too big over the last few years, had a secret meeting, where they among other things discussed how to deport people with German citizenship who have lived in Germany for decades -just like I live here in the US for almost 40 years, just like I have become an American.

But, the secret meeting didn’t stay a secret and now people are reacting. Remember, Germany was the one country that opened their doors and welcomed 1.2 Million Syrian refugees in 2016. The former refugees have built lives in Germany, have learned the language, and have integrated and adjusted to a new lifestyle. Just like I have done here in my home the United States of America.

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At the city call, downtown Hamburg

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“We are more” means, “We are more together”

Everywhere downtown, along the Alster, the river in Hamburg.

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And the last photo was the most powerful for me. It’s almost like someone has heard me say “We are too quiet”.

GET UP!
AGAINST
THE RIGHT
NOW!
ALL!

Finally, and now I have tears in my eyes.

Yes, let’s get up!
Let’s get loud!

It’s about damn time.

Tomorrow and next week other cities in Germany will follow, and the protest will go on.

37 thoughts on “Hamburg, Germany – On the Streets against right-wing”

  1. It’s moments like these that remind us of the power of unity and standing up for what’s right. Your friend’s message from Hamburg is a powerful testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the refusal to accept the unacceptable. It’s heartening to see people coming together to say “enough is enough” and to stand against the rise of the right-wing movement.

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  2. We are confronting social and political elements that I never would have thought possible in 2024. I am always so encouraged when I see people stand up and push back. We all have to push back. Sometimes it’s not as clear how to do that, but in sharing this rich post, Bridget, you remind us of the importance in speaking up–and at times, against!

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  3. I hope the demonstrations continue to grow world wide. We will not be pushed towards evil. I am the first to admit I don’t know that much about world politics, but this really sounds like something that has to be stopped. Thanks for sharing Bridget.

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  4. I am heartened to see a backlash against this burgeoning alt-right and anti-immigration movement that lacks a memory for the dangers that lurk within this kind of extreme dogma. It is abhorrent and selfish by its principles and policies and really anything extreme is civilly dangerous. However, as much as I am more to the left of the political spectrum, I can also see that the other side is not entirely blameless. Due to past trauma and repression they have suffered and the isolation and stigma they feel in their new adopted country, they knuckle down and keep within their own communities. (This is an expected reaction if one feels threatened). Some extreme elements in their ranks are so dogmatic about maintaining their cultures which I do agree with – it is fine but not when it might occur at the expense of themselves and others in their newly adopted country. They are no longer in their home country – they left because it wasn’t great. Their expectations were high – perhaps too high too soon? I would say to them, please don’t try to replicate the life you led somewhere else, but also please don’t lose ever lose your language and culture entirely. Take the best from both the old and the new country and find the middle ground. Your culture and language is your identity and you must keep that in some way. Ironically, I have found that some refugees are so traumatized by their experience they are adopting right wing views in terms of anti- immigration themselves, as they fear so much that war and civil disruption/famine may occur in their newly adopted country, just like it did in their homeland. I feel that with each generation they have time to adjust and find a happy medium. But the racist groups won’t grant them that time and stir up tensions. Ethnic cleansing is despicable in any form. We are all people and like a tree we all must bend in the wind or else we will break. I hope you understand my words and intention here, Bridget. It is hard to communicate in a small comment.

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    • I cannot even press like now, because I don’t agree at all with what you write, which is alright.
      No, I do not understand your intentions. 🙂
      I have often wondered how refugees feel and was fortunate enough to visit refugee camp twice in my lifetime -also I was allowed to get a little bit more insight to the container camps Germany provided after they took the Syrian refugees in.
      The trauma so many of them have lived through is made so much more worse if we detain them in camps for months and years, with nothing to do, nothing to be proud of. Fathers can not provide anymore, yet they are engineers, doctors, mechanics, scientists. Most of them have spent thousands and thousands of dollars to be able to flee -or be smuggled.
      We force adults and children to live together like dogs in a kennel. Thousands and thousands of people sit on top of each other, not knowing if they will be welcomed or send away like unwanted mail.
      I have been watching Canada for many years. How they were handling it after they took the Syrian refugees in was clever, admirable, got Canadians involved. The brought families together, some of them will be friends for life.
      I am not as left as I might sound and I do understand that some want to hang on to their old values. I know too much has been ‘shuffled’ down their throats.
      But no, sadly I do not agree with you at all and will not pretend that I do.

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      • That is okay, Bridget – you don’t have to pretend. Perhaps I should have clarified that the reference to the refugees being anti-immigration and playing a role in the consequences was related to a refugee in the past tense. One that has been released from detention and living in society as a permanent resident. It is not my personal belief that they are anit-immigration in their sentiment, but actual comments relayed to me by refugees who are now living as permanent residents and Australian citizens after escaping from wartorn countries. Goodness me, I hope you didn’t think I was referring to refugeess still sitting in camps?
        However, the permanent residents and now citizens formed this opinion gradually when are living as permanent residents in their adopted country – they were so fearful of a recurrence of their experience. My comment related to these people living as permanent residents in society, working, owning property, going about their lives just like any Australian. NOT those poor souls currently sitting in a refugee camps. Australia has a bad reputation for handling refugees on islands like Manus, and Nauru and we are ashamed of the way our government treated those people. Boat people were welcomed during the aftermath of the Vietname war and form a large part of Australian society now, so I feel attitudes in government have regressed since the 80s.
        I will never agree to mandatory detention of civilians in a jail/refugee facility – it is completely traumatizing and inhumane. And you are right, many are very educated folks and have nothing useful to do in those camps – and suffer dreadfully from self-harm and severe mental health issues. This is not their fault – and the only cure for that is to release them from detention. I do hope we can agree on that point?
        Can you tell me more about the Canadian experience?

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  8. I share your fears. It is not just one or two countries that seem to be experiencing these far right shifts, it seems to be happening all over the world. It is very worrying that otherwise sensible people are willing to forget history and sign up to such radical and authoritarian views and practices. Let us hope that there are enough of us willing to continue speaking up and fighting for the rights and equality of all humanity.

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    • Years ago, on my second trip to Dachau, a small village in the South of Germany, mostly known for the Conzentration camp. It was a worktrip and I stayed at a very old hotel “Zieglerbraeu”.
      In the evening I went down to eat dinner and after dinner, I was invited to play cards with some older German men, because their third and fourth men had to leave.
      We played, drunk and after a couple of hours I was finally brave enough to ask.
      “Did you not see it coming?” I asked them and they were quiet at first.
      “We didn’t think it would be that bad and when we realized it, it was too late.”
      What they told me that night was not much, but they all felt they could have stopped it IF more Germans and Austrians would have taken Hitler serious. Then from one day to the next it was too late. The Gestapo had been put in place and had arrested Germans who tried to speak up against Hitler.
      Soon they all were quiet, didn’t dare to jeopardize their families or their lives and I don’t blame them.
      When I listen to the AfD, Trump, the clown in Argentine, I hear so much similarity. I am very fearful but grateful to be older.

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  9. Same here! Yes, the fact that these things are happening in Germany (and surrounding countries) so much is particularly bizarre and scary. People have forgotten. And the younger generations have not been adequately reminded. I wish I could vote here, because it would be one vote more against the bad.

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  13. I agree with most of what you wrote. I’m also happy to hear that so many people are now standing up to the madness. One thing I disagree with, is that it is ‘the right’. These people are not ‘the right’, and I think classifying it as that, is counterproductive to change. I see these AfD Muppets and others that support their ideas more as ‘the evil’. I’m pretty left in most of my beliefs, but think it’s important to keep in mind that many – hopefully most – on the right do not agree with this sort of evil either.

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    • The Afd is a dangerous right-wing party. I know what you mean, I have neighbors who always voted Republican and while they don’t like the direction they are going, they will continue to vote for them -without thinking.
      But if you vote for evil, you can’t stay good, it’s as simple as that. Or should I use the old saying “If you lay down with dogs you will get fleas?”
      I am tired of people who are willing to gamble democracy away, just because they are too lazy to do their homework.
      My vote is my voice

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      • I agree that they are a dangerous party. They’re just plain evil and egotistical. All I’m saying is that there’s more to the right than just them, and that many of them are certainly not even close to AfD. I think it’s too crude to count in two camps. This is certainly true for many European countries where there is a broader political spectrum than in the US. And I think there’s a counterproductive effect in classifying people as such. Because – heck – if everyone keeps dumping people in the same camp as AfD, that may actually have that flea – dog effect, if you see my point…

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        • I do see your point and I know you are right, but I also come from a country that made bad mistakes. Just because it doesn’t seem too be that bad, doesn’t mean it won’t be.
          Personally, I will not vote for a party (left or right) if they show any kind of extremism.

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  15. My hope is with the younger generation. Conservatism was fine when it was progressive, center right, but now it is too far right. We all need to listen to what the politicians say, rather than just picking a side and sticking with it. Politicians, sooner or later, show or tell us who they are and we should be skeptical of the good talk and believe the bad talk. Thanks for sharing. Allan

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    • Politically, I was somewhere in the middle years ago. Then the ‘right’ shifted to the right more and more, and the ‘left’ shifted more and more to the middle. Guess what, I haven’t changed and now I am considered a radical left, which amuses me. What happened to my middle . 🙂

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      • The same has happened here. Our provincial left party is now center left and they lost out to the far right in the last election. I think one problem is the right tends to speak louder than the center and center left and no matter what words they say, they say them so frequently, people believe all of the words as truth. Happy Saturday. Allan

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