Junge Landsmannschaft Ostdeutschland
Junge Landsmannschaft Ostdeutschland (Young Homeland Association of East Germany – JLO) is a German youth organization, that the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution has categorized as “right-wing extremist”.[1] Most of its activities take place in the eastern parts of Germany. Its regional branch in Saxony organized the annual marches to commemorate the Bombing of Dresden in World War II until 2012. A Bloomberg report claims it has ties to the National Democratic Party of Germany.[2]
In February 2009, the National Democratic Party and the JLO organized a demonstration on the anniversary of the bombing of Dresden in World War II. Approximately 6,000 people took part in the event.[3][4] On February 13, 2010, as both organizations attempted again to march through Dresden, more than 10.000 counter-demonstrators blocked the participants from marching through the city, and about 6,000 supporters held a rally in a space adjacent to the Dresden-Neustadt train station, surrounded by police blockades.
In February 2012, with regard to the widespread resistance from other groups to the JLO organized marches in previous years the JLO announced that all marches for that year were cancelled.[5]
It was at one time headed by Bernhard Knapstein, who was in the Hofgeismar Circle,[6] which is an organization that opposes immigration and 'does not believe in a multicultural society'.[7]
In January 2011, the JLO "Saxony-Silesia" regional branch nominated Alfred-Maurice de Zayas for the Nobel Peace Prize for services rendered to the German expellées.[8]
Notes
- ^ "2010 Annual Report on the Protection of the Constitution" (PDF). Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution. p. 5. Retrieved February 5, 2012.
- ^ Donahue, Patrick. Skinheads, Neo-Nazis . . ., 2009
- ^ "Neo-Nazis hijack Dresden ceremony in the biggest far-right demonstration since Hitler". The Independent. London. February 14, 2005. Retrieved May 7, 2010.
- ^ Patrick Donahue. "Skinheads, Neo-Nazis Draw Fury at Dresden 1945 'Mourning March'". Retrieved February 14, 2009.
- ^ "Rechtsextreme melden ihren Aufmarsch ab". Sächsische Zeitung. February 3, 2012. Retrieved February 5, 2012.
- ^ Ostdeutschland . . ., Junge Freiheit, 1997
- ^ Chapin, pg. 110
- ^ Herbert Jeschioro (January 26, 2011). "Solidarität zeigen – Nobelpreis für Prof. de Zayas". Junge Landsmannschaft Ostdeutschland Landesverband Sachen-Schlesien. Retrieved February 5, 2012.
Bibliography
Chapin, Wesley D. (1997). Germany for the Germans?. Greenwood Publishing Group.