German neo-Nazis construct large wooden swastika
February 8, 2017
Neo-Nazis from across southern Germany allegedly participated in the creation of an enormous wooden swastika, according to local media reports on Tuesday. The Nazi symbol was allegedly put up at a meeting of far-right extremists in the Bavarian town of Bessenbach.
Police arrived on the scene, a private home hosting about 30 neo-Nazis, on Saturday evening. According to German news agency DPA, the ultra-nationalists destroyed the several-meter-high swastika before the police arrived.
Authorities have opened an investigation into whether they had broken any laws regarding the display of symbols deemed hostile to the state. Police have voiced concerns about the rise of nationalist extremism in Bavaria. In the Unterfranken region, of which Bessenbach is a part, there were 151 more far-right crimes in 2015 than the previous year.
"It is certain that we have to keep this in sight in the future," a police spokesman said.