"Nazi stronghold of the West", "headquarters of the neo-Nazi scene" - reporters have been unanimous in their opinion of the Ruhr city in recent decades. Dortmund regularly emerged as the center of a right-wing scene that had been consolidated over decades and repeatedly made headlines. The fight against this scene has become a tradition in the city. And if you look at the scene today and its development in recent years, it becomes clear that the fight is having an effect. In the form of a drop in criminal offences, numerous convictions and an obvious decline in mobilization. This is largely thanks to the meticulous work of "Soko Rechts", a special commission set up by Dortmund's Chief of Police Gregor Lange in February 2015, which can look back on five years of successful work in the fight against right-wing extremism this year.

It started with the "Borussenfront"

In order to assess the current situation in Dortmund, we need to take a brief look at the history of the right-wing scene. Its beginnings go back to the 1980s. Until the 2000s, its members were constantly creating new negative highlights. Some examples: the founding of the right-wing hooligan group "Borussenfront" by Siegfried Borchardt in the 1980s. The murder of the punk Thomas Schulz by a right-wing extremist in 2005. Also in 2005, the founding of the "National Resistance Dortmund" (NWDO). This is responsible for various attacks on dissidents, gatherings on "Anti-War Day" with more than 1,000 Nazis from all over Europe and the so-called "Christmas visits" to politicians, journalists and Nazi opponents. The NWDO is banned in 2012 following application of the Associations Act.

Unlike in other scenes, however, this does not lead to disintegration, but to the reorganization of the leadership and a large proportion of the members: in the same year, the new NRW state association of the "Die Rechte" party is founded. Focus: Dortmund. The party members attract attention with ever new provocations: with a vigilante group called "Stadtschutz" in 2014. In the local elections in 2014, the "Die Rechte" party wins a seat on the city council. The first representative of this party was asked why he was called "SS-Siggi" when he entered the city council. His answer, "He would much rather be called SA-Siggi", actually makes it into the New York Times. Shortly afterwards, a younger representative of the party takes over the seat and officially asks the Dortmund City Council how many Jews and how many homosexual people live in Dortmund and, above all, where. With this question, the right-wing extremist council representative gains sad notoriety and international attention. One of the last major provocations was the fake death notices that appeared on the internet in 2015, mourning the deaths of various opponents of the scene (journalists, representatives of local politics, etc.).

"The Right" party sows fear and intimidation

Members and leaders of Dortmund's "Die Rechte" party are sowing fear and intimidation, especially in neighborhoods with a high migrant population. With actions such as those mentioned above or torchlight marches in front of asylum seekers' accommodation, they attract international attention - with the aim of increasing their own following and also strengthening the significance of Dortmund's right-wing scene in international comparison.

Work of the "Soko Rechts" leads to convictions

The year 2015 marked the establishment of the "Soko Rechts". The declared aim: to combat the right-wing scene in Dortmund, which has been established for decades, with all the means available under the rule of law, to put it in its place and to protect the population and strengthen its sense of security. The approach to achieving this: pooling knowledge and investigative expertise on the subject of right-wing extremism.

The "Soko Rechts", which has a large number of staff, is now investigating offenders. Whether a right-wing extremist drives while black, commits shoplifting or dangerous bodily harm to the detriment of a political opponent, they will always end up at "Soko Rechts". And it collects and collects and collects...

In addition, it gathers information about people, structures and developments in the scene - whether through investigations following a crime, through observations at meetings and events, through the exchange of information with other authorities or through media analysis. All of this information is collated, evaluated and managed by the special commission as part of cross-directorate cooperation.

The work of the special commission leads to the creation of a comprehensive picture of members of the scene and, above all, of criminals. The Soko's network extends not only into its own authority, but also into other authorities and organizations - from the municipality to advisory services and the public prosecutor's office. It is precisely the connections to the latter that have led to several convictions of leading figures in the Dortmund scene in the recent past.

105 convictions have been obtained since 2015. These result in a total sentence of 35 years and seven months and a fine of 61,235 euros. Most recently, the convictions of the federal chairman of the "Die Rechte" party, Sascha Krolzig, as well as other leaders such as the brothers Matthias and Christoph Drewer, Steven Feldmann and Siegfried Borchardt have attracted attention.

Criminal offenses on a steady decline since 2015

It's not just sentences that are having an effect. It is also the constant control and investigation pressure as well as the persistently high police presence in the Dorstfeld district, where the majority of the scene has settled and wanted to establish a so-called "Nazi neighborhood". Large-scale graffiti was intended to mark the "territory". They were painted over with the words "Our Colors are beautiful" in a concerted action with the city of Dortmund in the presence of the Minister of the Interior Herbert Reul. Civil society, the police and the city of Dortmund are using all available means and a broad range of measures (including ordering video surveillance) to oppose this attempt to create a lawless space.

And there are other parameters by which the success of the fight against right-wing structures can be measured. For example, the number of right-wing extremist crimes in Dortmund has been falling steadily since 2015. If you compare the figures from 2019 and 2015, the total number has fallen by more than half. The figure for violent crimes is even more than 80 percent. In addition, the scene has repeatedly expressed frustration with the measures taken by the Dortmund police.

Ban orders and tight restrictions for Nazi demos

The Dortmund police department also takes stringent action against right-wing extremism in the area of assembly law. Almost every major gathering is critically examined with regard to the place of assembly, registered equipment, expected slogans, etc. Numerous banning orders and strict conditions make it clear how difficult it has become for the Nazi scene to hold large gatherings in Dortmund. The pull of the right-wing scene in Dortmund has clearly diminished. While right-wing extremists still came from all over Germany and neighboring countries in the early 2000s, these "visits" have become very rare.

Positive balance of the "Soko Rechts"

After these years of the very complex fight against right-wing extremism in our Ruhr metropolis, we can say:

• Civil society is aware of the successes achieved and recognizes them. Large sections of civil society support this course through counter-demonstrations, lobbying, offers to drop out, clear statements in public, etc. The police are not alone in the fight against the right in Dortmund!
• The media recognize and report on the path taken by the Dortmund police. The successes of the police against the right are often reported nationwide, especially when things have not gone so well elsewhere.
• The neo-Nazi scene in Dortmund has become less important nationwide. Local right-wing extremist council member Michael Brück is now finding it increasingly difficult to achieve three-digit attendance figures at demonstrations. Media attention has also waned because the media have now and again understood that the extremists need precisely this publicity.
• The hoped-for connection of right-wing extremists to the center of society is not succeeding here in Dortmund. A handful of Nazis face a determined police force and a large majority of democrats. There has been no significant growth in the scene or even greater political support for the "Die Rechte" party.
• There are also currently signs of dissolution in the Dortmund scene, which the police and city society are observing with great attention. For example, Michael Brück, one of the party's leading figures and its "face" in public for many years, left Dortmund in mid-November and moved to Chemnitz. He had already given up his council seat to Matthias Deyda. Bernd Schreyner, who stood as the mayoral candidate for the "Die Rechte" party in the local elections in September, left the party just two months later. Prior to this - at the end of August - his small arms license had been revoked.

Vigilance and pressure to prosecute still necessary

Despite the positive results of "Soko Rechts" and the cross-directorate work, there is no reason to lean back or even scale back measures. On the contrary: we have extended "Soko Rechts" indefinitely. After all, we are dealing with a scene that has been consolidated over many years and is just waiting for its opponents to become careless. Vigilance and constant, strong pressure to prosecute are necessary in order to continue the success story described above. Especially in times when right-wing extremist tendencies are one of the biggest problems for internal security due to the possibilities of the Internet and the social climate.

Police Commissioner Lange set up the Special Right-Wing Commission in order to exert a permanently high level of investigative and prosecution pressure on an established, aggressive and violent neo-Nazi scene. As a police authority, we have proven that we are exhausting our constitutional means to protect the democratically-minded population from right-wing extremist threats, incitement to hatred, anti-Semitic and racist slogans and attacks. We are now seeing that our perseverance and our zero-tolerance strategy are bearing fruit. And we will not lose this staying power in the future.