Obermayer German Jewish History Award (Anniversary)

Vigorously defending democracy against neo-Nazis

The Network for Democratic Culture combats fear, hate, and prejudice with outreach and education

Beneath its calm surface, the Pestalozzi high school in Wurzen is a troubled place. Right-wing youth threaten those they deem outsiders. Their targets walk through the halls looking over their shoulders. Teachers and administrators struggle to tackle the problem. Punishments don’t seem to make a dent.

It is in such places that the Network for Democratic Culture (Netzwerk für Demokratische Kultur or NDK) goes in, trying to crack tough teenage exteriors with engaging lessons in democratic values. It’s hard work but someone has to do it, says Melanie Haller, NDK association manager. “It’s a problem all over Germany; people are afraid to speak their minds” against xenophobia and anti-Semitism, she laments. “They think if everyone stays home and watches TV then it’s peaceful, and that’s not how it works.”

People who want change are out there, but they “are not always loud enough,” comments managing director and project leader Martina Glass. “We have to support them so they can be more visible.”

NDK was started 20 years ago, in response to neo-Nazi violence. “The mayor at the time said ‘We have no problem with neo-Nazis,”’ recalls Haller. Instead, he blamed people who complained about the violence, saying the real problem was Nestbeschmutzer—people who badmouth their hometown. 

In the end, she said, “Young people got together and decided to do something about it.” That action led to the fouding of NDK.

Today, the organization offerings include support for pro-democracy projects in this region of former communist East Germany; outreach to migrants and refugees, who are often targeted by right-populists; teaching about the persecution of Jews in the Nazi period; working in schools; and hosting public events designed to bring together people with different backgrounds. The staff of ten, plus dozens of volunteers, carries out 40 to 50 projects and events each year, reaching 5,000 to 6,000 people of all ages and backgrounds. 

Among their projects:

• Workshops on the history of the Nazi period, East Germany, and the period of unification and the aftermath, including meetings with eyewitnesses, commemoration events, and educational trips to the concentration camps Auschwitz and Theresienstadt and historical sites of the former East German communist regime

•  Culture workshops, including theater, readings, concerts, films, and a mobile stage

•  Politics workshops with discussions; “Open Space” seminars on democratic values and combating racism and xenophobia

• Youth participation projects, with an Internet platform and a mobile classroom developed by youth for courses on popular leisure-time topics

• Coordination of volunteer projects with refugees, including a clothing bank and a cafe where people of migrant background meet local citizens  

Almost from the start, NDK has been recognized for its contribution to democratic society. Recogniton has ranged from the "Living Democracy" award from Germany’s parliament (Deutscher Bundestag) in 2001 for the Auschwitz encounter project to the “Commitment—Award for Democratic Culture” in 2018 from the Left Party in the former East German State of Saxony.

In recognizing NDK in 2018, the Left Party commended it for nearly two decades of “fighting for diversity and tolerance,” executing dozens of projects annually with the help of volunteers and staff.  

“They create open spaces for citizens, young people, and children and promote an active democratic civil society. These dedicated individuals endure public attacks, standing up for their work publicly and in social networks. They have staying power, in face of much resistance.”

In fact, a main challenge for NDK has been to build popular support for work against violent new far-right groups. People are afraid to stand out and become targets in their own neighborhoods, and they fear being labeled as traitors.

"NDK in Wurzen represents an attempt to take a…neo-Nazi dominated city and turn it into a city that is open to the world,” says Anetta Kahane, founder of the Berlin-based Amadeu Antionio Foundation, which opposes right-wing extremism, racism, and anti-Semitism. When NDK started, recalls Kahane, “there wasn't a single youth club in town that was not dominated by neo-Nazis." These days, youth meet at the NDK offices, where additional space is being renovated for seminars and even a place for guests to stay.

Democracy can be loud and messy. Today, NDK is holding its annual “Open Space” seminar for 10th graders in the Pestalozzi school in Wurzen. Some 60 teenagers are laughing and rolling their eyes at an improv groundbreaker run by the Knalltheater group.

Then come breakdown sessions about topics the teens have voted on, in the first practical democracy lesson of the day. In typical teenage fashion, they say they want “more fast-food joints,” “legalized marijuana,” and “more youth clubs.” At the bottom of the list is the topic of “security.”

The boys in this last workshop have a lot to say—about their fear of bullies in school and terrorism on the street. They literally shake as they speak about beatings, threats, and intimidation of classmates by right-wing youths.  And about how other kids are afraid to speak up for each other.

“I feel sadness and anger,” says one. “I feel afraid,” says another. 

With facilitators, they brainstorm about possible responses: a club to fight bullying in school, more security cameras in town hotspots like the railway station. By the time the session ends, the boys are more at ease. “I’m glad I got to talk about what I experienced,” says one.

Sometimes the rewards for NDK’s work come in such quiet ways.

“I find it exciting to work with young people,” says Glass, who understands their frustrations and fears. NDK staff members, too, have been bullied and its headquarters vandalized. “But,” she says, “we have a citizens’ movement, and that makes me optimistic.”

— Obermayer Award recipient 2020