Two teachers in eastern Germany tried to counter the far-right activities of students at their high school. They counselled bullies who threatened to beat up immigrant classmates. They gave more lessons about their country's Nazi past. They invited in a Black rapper to talk about mutual respect.
None of it helped. In desperation, Laura Nickel and Max Teske wrote a public letter describing an atmosphere of intimidation at Mina Witkojc School in Burg. They reported students greeting each other with the Nazi salute, scratching swastikas on their desks and playing music with racist lyrics in the hallways.
Far-right extremist statements, actions, slogans, homophobia and sexism were and are the order of the day at this school.
They were so badly harassed by students, parents and school authorities they had to leave town.
Am I being unreasonable to believe this can't be happening in 2023?