Hundreds of people filled the streets of Cottbus to protest against growing far-right activity and anti-Semitism in the city southeast of Berlin.
Several hundred people protested against the far right in the German city of Cottbus on Thursday, where anti-Semitic signs and a swastika, among other things, appeared recently. This was reported by the DPA agency, writes TASR.
The march through the city southeast of Berlin under the slogan “You attack us – we will lock ourselves up even more” was organized by the Safe Places initiative in southern Brandenburg, which is one of the 16 federal states of Germany.
“We are proving here and now that we will not let our city be taken away,” Ricarda Budkeová, spokeswoman for the initiative and former member of the regional parliament for the Green party, told the RBB station. Police said the demonstration was peaceful. The protest was a reaction to several crimes that took place in Cottbus recently and which are being investigated by the security forces.
In recent days, anti-Semitic graffiti and a black swastika were painted on the city’s synagogue. The as-yet-unknown perpetrators also threw a flare into the hallway of the community housing project. The DPA agency also writes about threats directed at the residence of a student chaplain who is actively involved in the fight against right-wing extremism.
