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Photo: dpa/David Young
A letter containing death threats and an unknown red powder, obviously written and sent by right-wing extremists, has arrived at the office of the Greens in Göttingen. An employee took the letter addressed to the “Green Center Göttingen” out of the mailbox on Tuesday, said Greens board spokesman Dirk-Claas Ulrich “nd.DerTag”. The “Göttinger Tageblatt” first reported on the incident on Thursday.
“The Greens are plunging Germany into the abyss,” says the letter, which was written by hand and in illegible capital letters. And further: “Open Nord Stream 2 and turn on the nuclear power plants again! Or we’ll kill you!” Below that is the abbreviation “HH”, which probably symbolizes “Heil Hitler”, a swastika and the words “White Power” and “Group 11”. Delmenhorst is named as the place of dispatch on the envelope.
“Group 11” could refer to eleven neo-Nazis from the banned right-wing extremist network “Blood & Honour” who are currently on trial in Munich. A reference to an arson attack on the left-wing Bremen youth center “Friese” in February 2020 is also conceivable – after the fire, stickers of the neo-Nazi party “Dierechte” and one with the inscription “Group 11 – Terrorcrew” were found on the front door. Ulrich said the Greens had reported the anonymous letter to the police. According to their own statements, they have already started investigations. By Thursday, however, nothing was known about any results, such as the type and origin of the powder.
As early as June 2020, the Greens in Göttingen and Hamelin, other organizations and the “Red Center” used by the Left Party, among others, had received threatening letters with Nazi symbols and a powdery substance. The Green Center, in which Jürgen Trittin, a member of the Bundestag, also has an office, was even evacuated after the anonymous threat. The local police and the State Criminal Police Office started investigations.
At that time, the powder had proven to be harmless in the examinations by experts. In other cities in Lower Saxony and in Bremen, the Left and Greens received similar letters in 2020.
Nonetheless, from the point of view of Green party leader Ulrich, the Nazi activities have now “reached a new quality”. The right-wing extremists tried to regain a foothold in Göttingen. Thanks to anti-fascist mobilization, neo-Nazis had not dared to make public appearances in the university town in recent years. The AfD is also not represented with its own stands in the pedestrian zone.
According to Ulrich, however, protests against an election campaign event with the Green Party leader Ricarda Lang last Friday in Göttingen were massively advertised on social media. Around 50 of the approximately 300 people present repeatedly disrupted Lang’s speech with chants and loud whistles – right-wingers and conspiracy theorists demonstrated side by side. Ulrich also expects disruptive actions at a rally with Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock this Sunday in Göttingen.
