ExtremismisontheriseinGermanyandaroundtheworld.Thereisasenseofhelplessness,perhapsevendespair.The »neveragain«ofthelast80yearsliesintatters.Attemptstoinoculatenewgenerationsagainstthetemptationsofright-wingextremismareprovingineffective.To combat this despair, historians are coming together at Gorki to discuss what advice history can give us. What works against extremism? How can history, as a source of civilization, counteract collapse – in the interests of a resilient democracy?
January and February 2024 saw the largest mass protests in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany. Between seven and ten million people demonstrated against the policies of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. Since then, the protests have quietened down.We believe that this has to do with a certain helplessness, even inner despair, in German civil society. We want to address the despair of civil society directly: 10 million people have demonstrated and are still asking themselves every day: What can I do? What can we do together against the evil of a party that fights democracy?Whatdoweneedtowatchoutfor?Whatshouldweavoid?WhatisthestrategyagainsttheAfD?Whichmeasureshaveworkedhistoricallyandwhichhavenot?Howdosocietiesreact“wrongly”toright-wingextremism?Itisnolongeraquestionofre-education,butofliteracyinbehavioragainstpoliticalright-wingextremism.
