Students fight against right-wing slogans: Braunschweig shows the flag for tolerance!

Students fight against right-wing slogans: Braunschweig shows the flag for tolerance!

In a worrying twist, right-wing extremist slogans and even a swastika were discovered on the grounds of the Sally Perel Comprehensive School in Braunschweig last Sunday. These graffiti, which appeared on the night from Saturday to Sunday, shocked not only the school community, but also the surrounding sports clubs. In a joint initiative, students, led by the head of the social studies department, quickly covered the slogans with posters emblazoned with slogans such as “For respect and tolerance” and “stupid racism”. In addition, some creative people among the young people painted rainbows to show diversity and unity.

Headmaster Sven Waschinski spoke positively about the students' commitment and emphasized how important such an active stance against racism is. Nevertheless, he expressed criticism of the city of Braunschweig because, in his opinion, the removal of the graffiti should be done more quickly. However, the city administration has assured that the cleaning should take place by the end of the week. Clear action is required, after all, the slogans were not only found on the school grounds, but also on the adjacent sports field.

Reactions from sports clubs

The Rot-Weiß Volkmarode sports club is particularly affected, as extremist graffiti was also discovered on its premises. A substitute bench was daubed with the words “SVQ Hools”, which is interpreted as a reference to SV Querum. SV Querum has clearly distanced itself from these incidents in a statement and is deeply affected. The association apologized to Rot-Weiß Volkmarode and the Sally Perel Comprehensive School and emphasized that it stands on solid democratic ground and does not tolerate right-wing tendencies. Those responsible describe the incidents as a “disaster” and call on the perpetrators to stay away from the club’s games.

The two clubs jointly made it clear that people of all skin colors, sexual orientations or origins should play sports in peace and ended with the urgent call “Nazis out!” This clear line is approved by the school community and the city, although the police, whose responsibility it is to further advance the investigation, have not found any suspects. Information about the incidents can be reported by calling (0531) 476 25 16.

A step for democracy

This incident comes three days before the federal election, underscoring the importance of the events for the democratic culture in the region. Hundreds of students in Hanover are currently campaigning for democracy and showing that a clear stance against racism and intolerance is necessary today. It remains to be hoped that the strong commitment of the school community, coupled with the support of the sports clubs, can send a positive signal - not only in Braunschweig, but also beyond.

You can find out more about these developments in the reports from NDR and FuPa read up.