Anne Frank diary burning sparks outrage in Germany (Reuters)

[Up2Late]

(I can't find the words for this act)

Anne Frank diary burning sparks outrage in Germany

Fri Jul 7, 2006 01:11 PM ET

By Dave Graham

BERLIN (Reuters) - The ceremonial burning of the diary of Holocaust victim Anne Frank by far-right extremists in eastern Germany was condemned by the German government on Friday amid calls to intensify efforts to stamp out neo-Nazi activity. "This act was beneath contempt and could scarcely have been more primitive," the German Interior Ministry said in a statement to Reuters.

The ministry was reacting to an incident in which three men in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt used a copy of the diary of the Jewish teenager to re-enact the Nazis' infamous incineration of 'un-German' literature in 1933.

State prosecutors are investigating the men, who also burned an American flag in front of a crowd estimated to have numbered more than a hundred, on suspicion of inciting racial hatred.

According to news reports, one of the men cast the diary into the flames and said: "I commit Anne Frank to the fire," borrowing words used by the Nazis in 1933. "All of us in Saxony-Anhalt are put to shame by this," Wolfgang Boehmer, premier of Saxony-Anhalt, told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung daily on Friday.

(more and page 2 at link) <http://go.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=12775726&src=rss/worldNews>

[sui generis]

1. disgusting, but a symbol.

Who gives a poo about symbols. Reacting to it is EXACTLY what they wanted. Adults would call this behavior "attention seeking" - we shouldn't reward it with attention.

However, locking them away for extensive psychiatric evaluation wouldn't be unwarranted.

[susanna]

14. That's the rub...

They are obviously looking to get a rise out of people. It's a question of pop psychology gone awry...

You know, they could burn a billion copies of that book, but what they cannot do is eradicate it from the hearts/minds/souls of the millions who have read it around the globe. (At risk of a pun, that book has been burned into my brain forever.) So some skinheads torch the physical book? Well, "Too late - I already read the good parts. Which was the whole thing."

on edit: typo

[redirish28]

2. Just proof that words are the most frightening weapon anyone can use.

[Rabrrrrrr]

3. There are times I think that the law - that is, police - should be able

to play judge and jury and executioner, right at the spot.

These guys deserve bullets to the head to rid the world of their stain. But of course, the believer in the law and justice for all in me refuses to ev er agree to allow it. But the visceral part of me, whoo-ha: I wanna see justice done right there!

[Vidar]

6. They can't go that far, but it seems to me the German laws

regarding this sort of shit are stricter than ours. I hope they go after them.

[xultar]

4. Righties. Just about the same everywhere.

[MrPrax]

5. Neo-Nazis Hijack Gala To Burn Anne Frank Diary

Neo-Nazis Hijack Gala To Burn Anne Frank Diary

7/5/06-

German neo-Nazis tore up and burned a copy of The Diary of Anne Frank after hijacking a traditional gala.

Around 100 skinheads cheered and shouted Sieg Heil as the most poignant memoir of the Holocaust years went up in flames.

They also burned a U.S. flag and sang banned Nazi songs.
...

The neo-Nazis descended on a field in the village of Pretzien, Saxony, where local people were re-enacting a pagan rite celebrating midsummer.

A bonfire was lit and the book and flag destroyed.

Before they burned the book, the extremists used it as a football in a drunken kick-around.
KLTV

Also a similar story Posted by Headline News posted July 5, 2006

(Haaretz gives more information)

Three German far-rightists torch copy of 'Diary of Anne Frank'
By The Associated Press

The governor of an eastern German state on Thursday condemned the burning of a copy of Anne Frank's diary by three suspected members of a far-right group.

Prosecutors are investigating the three men, ages 24, 27 and 28, for incitement after they burned the book and a U.S. flag at a party in the town of Pretzien, near Magdeburg, on June 24.

The three are believed to be members of a small far-right group called Heimat Bund Ostelbien.

Haaretz

[Up2Late]

7. It will be interesting to see if and who is condemned by the Bush Cabal

...if they even mention this. Will they blame the Pagans or their idealogical brethren, the neo-Nazis?

[Goat52]

18. Bush huh thats funny..

Bush won't touch this at all... with his Flag burning episode over...

[LostinVA]

10. They also desecrated a religious ceremony

One equivalent to a Catholic Holy Day of Obligation.

Which adds just that extra layer of disgusting onto the whole thing...

[noonwitch]

8. This is not good, but I did read a very funny "column" at The Onion

It was an editorial written by "Anne Frank" asking people to stop reading her private diary. It was funny, but it didn't make fun of her situation, just the fact that lots of people have read her innermost thoughts and such.

[bloom]

9. they must really get off on sparking outrage.

and being hateful.


That sure is disgusting.

[nealmhughes]

11. Anne would be a grandmother now.

Probably noone would ever know her but her family and neighbors and friends. She wouldn't even be as old as many still considered "vital"...she might have retired and gone back to work after retirement and be riding the tram in Amsterdam right now to buy dinner for her husband.
But she isn't.
I'm not Jewish. I'm not Dutch or German. I'm not a 15 year old girl. But I wonder what Ann Frank ought to be doing right now every time I hear her name or read it.

[susanna]

15. Me, too. Beautifully said. n/t

[cyr330]

12. What an ugly thing to do. . . .

But it makes me think of a bunch of immature punks trying to get attention. . . I'm not sure how I feel about this whole thing--disgusted, of course. However, Germany has very stringent laws about inciting racial/ethic hatred, and I suppose they have good reason to fear such things.

Nonetheless, I don't imagine I'd relish seeing restricted speech in the USA, although there are PLENTY of people I most certainly wouldn't mind seeing gagged (think of Anne Coulter here). But, if we could shut them up by force, wouldn't it be the same for them when they're in power, as they are now?

If this were in the USA, I would just say to ignore those losers.

[oasis]

13. They contributed to Anne Frank's fame, the knuckleheaded cretins.

:dunce:Heil hitler:dunce:

[barb162]

16. It's a very disturbing story

The neo nazis keep rearing their ugly pinheads

[Celefin]

17. They're just frustrated. Very frustrated.

The German authorities will deal with these nut jobs.
"Volksverhetzung" roughly translating to
"incitement of the people to racial/ethnic violence"
is a very serious offence and renders time in prison.
Good riddance.

That said, it's a beautiful sight these days, concerning
these highly frustrated idiots.
They had set such big hopes in the FIFA Worldcup with all these
possibilities for media attention.
And they didn't get any.

What's worse: The German people developed an extremely friendly
"partyotism", as it is being called here.
And they have taken back their flag from the nazis, which really
has made the Worldcup one of the most important events in Germany
for a long time.

[Behind the Aegis]

19. It's a book.

Burn the words; it won't make them any less true.

I think the better question, is why do they feel the need to burn the book?

They wish to inspire "racial hatred?' Of the Jews? They aren't a 'race' to many people. What are the real motivations?

I can only guess to their motivations, but I would wager it is a hate of Jews, anti-Semitism. However, I am guessing it runs deeper, as it does for many.

"The more things change, the more they stay the same."

[Raine]

20. They can burn it again and again but

they can NEVER eradicate it. The Diary has touched me more than any other book I ever read. It wouldn't matter whether there was not a copy left in the world for me to read. It had an effect on me and others that will be with us the rest of our lives. What stupid ignorant fools they are to not understand that.

[truthisfreedom]

21. childish and meaningless. i can't even let it bother me... Anne Frank is

uplifted by the outpouring of sympathy for her plight aroused by this ridiculous buffoonery.

just goes to show you how petty and sniveling hate is... reminds me of bushco in many ways.

[michael_1166]

22. That Reuters article is a joke

I'm from Germany and there is no "sparked outrage", because the story hasn't been widely reported here yet.