The arrival of 890,000 refugees last year has deeply polarized Germany, and misgivings against the newcomers run particularly deep in eastern states like Saxony.
The former communist state has become fertile ground for the far right, with unemployment fueling resentment and xenophobia.
“They should all just disappear,” said a man in his fifties, when asked what he thought of the refugees in Saxony.
Enrico Schwarz, who runs an association in Freital that has been helping Kassas and Alkhodari, said “latent racism and latent right-wing radicalism” has always existed in German society, but “at this time of the refugee movement, they have become bolder.”
He said eastern Germans were more susceptible to xenophobia because many felt like migrants in a new country when Germany reunited.
“And [they feel] threatened by other migrants who are arriving now,” he said.
Right-wing extremists are capitalizing on fears with arguments such as “they’re taking jobs away, or they’ll drive health insurance contributions up”, and lines are gradually blurring between those who are stirring up hate, and others who are simply worried about their future.
“Who is the ‘concerned citizen’, and who is the violent citizen? Who is the extremist citizen and who is the one who only has fears? It’s no longer so clear,” Schwarz said.
Erdmute Gustke, pastor at a church in Heidenau — another Saxony village hit by violent anti-refugee demonstrations — said some saw the migrant influx as another unwanted change affecting their lives.
“There is a feeling of ‘leave us in peace, we’ve only just found our way after reunification and now we’re facing something new again,'” she said.
Social media has also lifted the expression of hatred for foreigners to a “new level”, said refugee aid volunteer Marc Lalonde.
“Before this social media explosion, people were probably racist but they kept it to themselves,” he said.
Now they see that “they are not alone.”
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