German town tricks neo-Nazis into raising thousands of euros for anti-extremist charity

Neo-Nazis gathered in a small German town found themselves the target of an anti-fascist prank this week when they inadvertently raised €10,000 for an anti-extremist organisation.

For decades, far-right extremists have marched through Wunsiedel in Bavaria every year, to the despair of those who live there. This year, the organisers of Rechts gegen Rechts (Right against Right) took a different approach.

Without the marchers’ knowledge, local residents and businesses sponsored the 250 participants of the march on 15 November in what was dubbed Germany’s “most involuntary walkathon”. For every metre they walked, €10 went to a programme called EXIT Deutschland, which helps people escape extremist groups.

Campaigners hung humorous posters to make the march look more like a sporting event, with slogans such as “If only the Führer knew!” and “Mein Mampf” (my munch) next to a table laden with bananas. They even hung a sign at the end, thanking the marchers for their “donations”.

Neo-Nazis are attracted to the town because Hitler’s deputy Rudolf Hess was once buried there. Though his remains were exhumed in 2011 and his grave was destroyed, far-right extremists still flock to the town year after year. Residents have attempted protests and numerous legal complaints to no avail – Wunsiedel is still treated as a place of pilgrimage for neo-Nazis all over Europe.

One of Rechts gegen Rechts’ organisers Fabian Wichmann, an education researcher at EXIT, told German news agency DPA: “We want to show what else you can do, what other courses of action you have. You can do more than just block the street or close the shutters.”