Anti‐semitism and xenophobia in the East German lander

Abstract

Since unification, xenophobic and anti‐Semitic incidents have been on the increase in the new and the old Lander. This article discusses attitudes towards foreigners and Jews in east and west Germany and evaluates the new prominence of violence in right‐extremist politics. The development of a right‐extremist youth culture and the escalation of violence against foreigners (and Jews) in the wake of the system collapse in the east and public objections to the admittance of asylum seekers in the west are discussed in the light of recent research and the politics of right‐extremist violence between 1990 and 1993.