Large police deployment and counter-protests planned for event that coincides with Hitler’s birthdayA small town in eastern Germany is bracing for the arrival of hundreds of neo-Nazis planning to attend a music festival timed to coincide with Adolf Hitler’s birthday. The two-day event is expected to attract up to 1,000 far-right extremists from Germany, the neighboring Czech Republic and Poland. Organisers argue that the festival is a political event, granting it legal protection under the German constitution. The festival organiser is Thorsten Heise of the far-right fringe party NPD, which is openly xenophobic and antisemitic. Sascha Elser, a spokeswoman for Rechts Rockt Nicht, said it was an irony that Polish extremists would attend the festival, where German and eastern European neo-Nazis hope to “strengthen relations”.

Source: The Guardian April 20, 2018 18:45 UTC