European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 28, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The German far right gathers clout by Stephen Kinzer the new York times after local elections in Bremerhaven Germany in which a Small far right party received Many More votes than expected foreigners in Bremerhaven Are suddenly beginning to fear for their future. Quot up to now we be been living Here pretty much normally Quot a Young turkish immigrant said As he walked past the Sarajevo cafe in a Section of town where Many foreigners live. Quot but now we know that at least 10 percent of the people Here hate  the far right German people s Union won More than 10 percent of the vote in the election held sept. 29. The principal reason is opposition to the presence of foreigners in Germany. Although the election was Only for local officials in Bremerhaven and nearby Bremen the result Shook Germany s political establishment. Coming As it did in the midst of a wave of attacks on foreigners it seemed to confirm that a Strong backlash against Liberal immigration policies is spreading across Germany. The Peoples Union was unknown to most germans until recently. It held Only a single seat in the Bremerhaven City Council and none in Bremen. The Bremerhaven Council member was known principally for having set off a local juror last year. When another councilor referred in a speech to the number of gypsies killed by the nazis the people s Union member shouted Quot what not More too  results from the recent election Here gave the people s Union new respectability. It won 11 seats on the Bremen and Bremerhaven councils making it the third largest party in this two City state. It is also the most politically successful xenophobic party in today s Germany. The Republican party another far right group won some support in the 1970s and 80s, but its influence has waned partly As a result of internal troubles several local officials in Bremerhaven declined requests to discuss the situation. Quot it s too hot a subject to talk about Quot said the head of a City department that deals with foreigners election posters supporting the people s Union still hang along Many streets in Bremerhaven. They carry slogans like Quot keep Bremerhaven German Quot and Quot the boat is full a Stop the flood of Asylum  about 10 percent of Bremerhaven s 130,000 residents Are foreigners. Many Are portuguese italian Spanish yugoslav and turkish labourers invited Here in past decades to work in fish processing plants and to fill other jobs that few germans will accept. The More recent arrivals Are ethnic germans from Eastern Europe and political and economic refugees from around the world. Germany offers relatively Liberal benefits to settlers readers action line saturday night live is to sports casualty it the an to guide and on air to advertisements said saturday night live was to show at Midnight. We stayed up to watch it Only to find it did not come on. At 1 . I started the Var recording but it did not show up later either this is one of our favorite shows to watch after the kids go to bed. It is not the first weekend this has happened what can be done about this Many people like to watch saturday night live i called the to guide. They said they Only publish the to guide who is responsible for an programming ? i need an address and phone number m. Wayne Burton Giessen Germany a Hans Attermann opposes mixing of cultures. And Asylum seekers and partly As a result More refugees come Here than to any other european country. An analysis of the election results showed that two thirds of those who voted for the Peoples Union were male and that most were Young. Quot we have an unemployment rate Well above the National average and plenty of people can to afford a Nice apartment Quot said Andreas Glandorf an editor of the local newspaper. Quot As the number of foreigners grows so does the resentment of the benefits they get from the  Quot politicians Are afraid to give real leadership on this Issue which Means that the situation is definitely going to get worse Quot Glandorf said. Quot the hysteria is Here  residents joke that no one Here will openly admit to having voted for the people s Union. Even at the party a Small local office workers refused to discuss their political views. The chief organizer for the people s Union in Bremerhaven Hans Altermann was on a political trip to a Thomas Baxter chief television Branch american forces network Europe replies the an to guide and other such publications print the to schedule based on projections furnished six weeks in Advance of the actual broadcast dates. As you might expect there Are Many changes which occur during the interval accordingly an uses radio and television for daily updates to the to schedule and the stars and stripes prints a daily schedule. On the Date in question an announcements and the stars and stripes both noted that the schedule had been changed to accommodate satellite sports events by the Way we be also started a primetime info line which you can dial by calling ets 329-4100 or civilian 069-15688-100 regarding scheduling of saturday night live the Advent of the football season puts it in jeopardy of repeated pre emotions on saturday nights until the season is Over an will air the program at 11 05 pm on the Eastern City of Dresden. His presence there added to fears that far right organizers from Western Germany Are moving their resources to the East sensing that they have great potential support there. Election leaflets distributed by the people s Union Appeal to German nationalism and warn that allowing More foreigners to come Here will Lead to Quot the destruction of european  Quot Integrationist Are hateful racists who want to destroy All cultures by mixing Quot one leaflet asserts. Altermann said in an interview that the people s Union had won so Many votes because Quot we say aloud what everyone  Quot we have nothing to do with nazi ideology and we have never said we want foreigners out Quot he asserted. Quot we want the false Asylum seekers the ones who Are not truly fleeing from persecution to be sent Home and we want foreigners who commit crimes to be sent Home. America does that  in september there were More than 200 attacks against Asylum seekers immigrants and foreign born labourers across Eastern and Western Germany. No such attacks have been reported in Bremerhaven and children of foreigners still play freely in Public playgrounds Here without attracting attention from German passers by. In Bremen however two attacks were reported in the Days after the recent election. Arsonists set one Hostel afire causing $65,000 damage and a Man fired a signal flare at another. A suspect was arrested in the latter Case. Prominent politicians have deplored the attacks but there is no consensus on what to do about them. A prominent German jew Heinz Galinski decried what he called Quot this horrible development Quot and said jews were especially frightened by the surge in violence against foreigners. According to official statistics 28,732 foreigners entered Germany in september in search of Refuge or resettlement. The largest group More than 10,000, came from Yugoslavia. Other Large groups came from Romania Turkey Bulgaria Vietnam Nigeria the soviet Union and Iran. Quot i heard that some people got attacked somewhere in other parts of Germany Quot said a nigerian refugee walking near the Bremerhaven train station. Quot you like to Tell yourself that it  happen Here but who knows they done to exactly love us  at a downtown snack bar a Black american Keith Wagner ate lunch with his German wife and their Small son. Wagner served at a nearby american army base for five years. Quot there in t any violence against us Here but the mood is definitely More tense than it was a few years ago Quot Wagner said. Quot people Don t like to wait on foreigners in restaurants or stores. They make you feel like an outsider and i Don t like it especially since i spent five years Here protecting these  thursdays. If you done to stay up late remember to set your Var. We re always Happy to discuss our service with viewers and listeners. You can reach me at ets 329-4313 or civilian 069-15688-313. To write us -1 readers action line is the readers Quot court of last resort Quot striving to answer some of the questions about life overseas in a military environment or questions about policies and guidelines when other avenues for answers Are not readily available. If you have a question and Don t know where to turn for the answer write to readers action line co the stars and stripes Apo 09211-4211. All letters must be signed and preference will be Given to those seeking information of general interest to our readers. Page 16 b the stars and stripes monday october 28, 1991