The BIG WEEKEND is finally here...
Die Verbindung (the frat) is celebrating its 128th anniversary...
I dont know how exactly i feel about it. i am still not in the über excited mood, but i think that will happen tomorrow, once the actual celebrating starts. however, today, i am having a full pijama/let's-watch-movies day with the girls while the boys are off doing some boyish drinking stuff at 10am. These Germans are hard core when it comes to their drinking... i feel left behind and that i must increase my tolerance in order to keep with the likes of them. i had to buy a new dress for saturday's ball. it's cute, but i dont know if i would of spend as much money on it if i were back in the States. But to limit my spending i decided not to get a hairstyle done. It's too expensive as well. So, i am just going to straighten my hair and do something cute with it. We'll see what happens... I went to buy my dress with two girlfriends from two of Renke's brothers. Pia and Franzie (hopefully, i am spelling their names right) have been nothing but nice and kind to me. Their boyfriends are soooo lucky to have them. It's a bit weird, though. I have always found it easier to befriend boys as opposed to girls. But it has been the complete oppostie here at the frat. I feel so intimidated by the boys and i feel that i cant relate to them the way i relate to my guy friends back at home. i literally cannot speak to them. my whole system shuts down. and i dont want them to think that i am a bitch or a snobby American because i won't talk to them. For example, I went downstairs yesterday to ask one of the guys if he needed help. He said, "Nein," but i asked once more and he said no again and then went on a rant about saying how the furniture they were moving was heavy and how i would only hurt myself. First of all, I move furniture around all the time in my room, so that's no problem. Second, i was offerring my help, a 'thank you' would have been nice. But instead of saying anything, i choked and crawled back to my cave also known as Renke's room. it's so baaaaaaadddd. i cant joke around with them because i feel that the German humor might be a little bit different from mine and so i dont want to be seen as a weird-o or a freak. *sigh* i miss my boyz ( and Sprite, too)...
But as soon as I can I will try to post up pics of the events going on (and of my dresses...hehehehe). I think I like the process of dressing up more than the actual event itself...no, I am kidding, but it is fun to get all spiffed up for one's man....
Dancing in the moonlight
Everybodys feeling warm and bright
Its such a fine and natural sight
Everybodys dancing in the moonlight
USA MISSES YOU!
ReplyDeleteStop fraternities! ? Fight the right ideology!
ReplyDeleteIn Greifswald, a town in the middle of the province far in the north of Germany in Mecklemburg Pomeranian, we are surrounded by forests and fields and have neofasistic neighbours all around us. Here in our region the extreme right companionships find a well breeding ground for their inhuman agitation. There are a lot of march- ups and in the parliaments you can find the members of the NPD (National Democratic Party of Germany). This party got voted by almost every village in Ostvorpommern in the last federal election, therefore getting results far above the 5% hurdle. As front-runners you could mention Ducherow (12, 6%) and Anklam (9, 8%).
The Hanse- and University Town Greifswald however present itself as tolerant and cosmopolitan but is Greifswald an exception in this region shaped by the extreme- right? The right-extreme scene of Greifswald differs in some points from the countryside but the Hanse-Town is in no way a ?Nazi-free island?. The people are not confronted with bald whipping guys but with bourgeois Newness in uniforms- the fraternities (?Burschenschaften?). There exists four of this kind of neo-nazi organisation: The ?Rugia Dresdenia zu Greifswald? and its scion the ?Pennale Burschenschaft Theodor Fontane?, and the ?Burschenschaft Markromannia- Aachen?, who shares (not just) a house with the ?Pennale Burschenschaft Ernst Moritz Arndt? and not to forget the incorporation ?Schwesternschaft Athena? which stands rather close to the Rugia. .
The common ground of the fraternities is a hierarchical structure of organisation and an elite nature, which constitutes itself in a graded membership: the Fux (candidate), the actives (students) and the non-active ?Alte Herren?, who finished their studies and support their brothers in the fraternity by means of connections and money. Apart from these hierarchies and ?means of education? as fencing of Measure, the members of fraternities are subject to explicit rules. As examples you could mention the regularly happening boozer (Kneipe) or the uniform clothing, which shall strengthen the incorporation in given structures and the subordination to a constructed community.
The fraternities in our town follow the slogan of the governing body of the German fraternities: ?Honour, Liberty, Home country?. Their nationalism is underlined by this principle and their demand to stand for the own Nation in an unlimited way. According to them the mankind is divided in homogenous groups of peoples, which define themselves by their relationship of blood consanguinity, common history and culture. In face of this they believe that they have to disassociate from others. In the praxis, the fraternities deny German peoples with non German blood in their veins the membership. Further they put emphasis in the training of ?typical male qualities? such as honour, strength, courage and well fortification. They are strongly sexist considering their exclusion of women. They want to reproduce a binary relationship of the sexes, the women are seen as emotional and weak and therefore the men are allocate the women the role as mother and housewife. The men however- based on supposed biological qualifications- are able to fill in the criteria?s of character.
Regarding the characteristics above, it is not surprising that there are a lot of personal overlaps between believe of the fraternities and the neo- Nazi scene. For examples Mathias and Stefan Rochow, both ?Alte Herren? in the ?Burschenschaft Rugia?, developed in their time here in Greifswald already many lively neo-Nazistic activities. Mathias Rochow was co- founder of the NPD in Greifswald and agitated against the influx of migrants. Stefan Rochow worked himself up from the neofacistic ?Junge Landsmannschaft Ostpreußen? to the chairman of the young national democrats on federal level. Since 2004 he works as research associate (Assistant of the fraction) of the NPD- fraction in the saxonian parliament and his emphasis he puts on youth work. Other evidence for the thesis that ?Burschenschaft? and Neo- Nazis ideology are very close is that members of the Rugia were remarkable for distribution flyers with extreme-right content or anti- Semitic writings. Furthermore to train their members the fraternities organise regularly lectures with ideologist of the new right.
Greifswald ? place of retreat for neo-Nazi-cadre and terrorists of the right?
Good contacts also exist the nationwide known neo-Nazi-cadres Lutz Giesen and Paul Schneider. Schneider?s Flat was investigated by the police at January 11th 2006. He was grounded on the suspicion that he tried to carry on with the forbidden militant 'Kameradschaft Tor' from Berlin. During this search numerous propaganda material of the extreme right was taken possession of. Lutz Giesen, who moved last year to Greifswald, is one of the most important cadres in the neo-Nazi scene of Mecklenburg-Pomeranian. The repeatedly previously convicted Giesen appeared on almost all demonstrations of the extreme right in Mecklenburg-Pomeranian as one of the speakers. The 'national socialist' (as he calls himself) is well known outside Mecklenburg-Pomeranian; he was speaking amongst other places on December 10th 2005 in the Swedish Salem in front of approximately 1.400 Neo-Nazi. In this speech he talked about the 'planed war on the streets of Europe in which innocent white people are daily murdered by people of foreign races und left-wing activists. Giesen is also member of the Heimatbund Pommern, an organisation, which tries to introduce young people to neo-Nazistic thinking by organising dance-evenings, camps.
Not long ago Giesen and other leading members of the ?Kameradschaft?- scene, which calls itself independent from parties, signed up to join the NPD. This was meant as a symbol for the unity of the NPD and the 'free nationalists' prior to the regional election in September. The prognosis for the election results of the NPD in many town lies above 5%, therefore the party of the extreme right (NPD) is not unlikely to move into our parliament. Already during the federal of 2005 elections the neo-Nazi tried to gain support with reference to local problems, and found open ears.
The wide acceptance would not be possible without the statements and continuous campaigns of racists inside and outside the Nazi-scene. In previous years we had discussions in several towns about the movements of migrants from ?jungle camps? to towns with better connections and not only neo-Nazis used these possibilities to found initiatives to stir up citizens against migrants. Even Benno Rüster (CDU / Christian-Democratic Union of Germany) in his function as mayor of Grimmen spoke out openly against a migrant?s home in his town and called upon the inhabitants to voice clearly their opinion. It is not surprising that such comments make it easy for people from the extreme right to justify their inhuman politics and their racist attacks. For migrants, whose living conditions are characterized by public harassment, fear of deportation and violence by Nazis, life becomes inescapable. The ignorance of a large part of the population of Pomeranian for the reasons and consequences of refuge, lead to a wide acceptance of the German policy of deportation, which is ending not rarely in torture, starvation or death.
Turn left ? come to where the action is.
Despite or even because of this inemancipative climate in Mecklenburg-Pomeranian there are again and again people who defy the right consensus in the capitalist system of utilisation and who set up activities against it. There are projects like eco-villages, infoshops, youth centres, in which a life without hierarchies is possible. In those un-commercial spaces people have the possibilities to be themselves without fear, outside the capitalist mainstream, to become committed, to create a critical consciousness without regard of their descent/background, age or sex. This dream of a solidly united society has to be supported and spreaded always and everywhere!
No acceptance for fraternities! Organise the Fightback! Oppose Racism! Go on the streets of Greifswald on April 8th!!!!!