Mob violence stuns Germany

 

 

downtown Chemnitz, the makeshift memorial to the victim of Sunday's stabbing attack, allegedly by two immigrants, still flickers every evening, a sea of candles and flowers that has survived the political turmoil of the last week. 

Local residents have come to pay their respects but few want to speak to the media, angry at the way their city has been portrayed.  

"It is really terrible and sad what happened in Chemnitz ... in our city. I am not against foreigners or migrants, but starting to like Hitler"

Over the course of one turbulent week, the eastern German town of Chemnitz has revealed deep fault lines in the the country over the flashpoint issue of refugees and immigration.

"I was surprised by the amount of resistance, distrust and how violently people reacted," says Werner Patzelt, a professor of politics at Technical University Dresden, who has been following the growth of the right-wing movement in Germany.