Neo-Nazis take over German village

[Triple Zero]

Well, I'm making a big assumption that it happened much like it did in the 30's.

You take a depressed going-nowhere population that's feeling pressure to conform with the bullying that's terrorizing them.  Add to that lackluster leadership from not only local government but also what amounts to tacit collusion by all government when it's not STOPPED.

Who is left, Trip?  Who is left holding that responsibility?  Leaving the neighborhood TO that tyranny certainly doesn't stop it.  That's just a short-term solution (read: cop out) for those who left.  I don't subscribe to the theory that it's ok to put up with bullshit because it's convenient to do so.  I also don't subscribe to the theory that people can't stand up in little ways throughout oppressive regimes or social/cultural pressures.  Because humans have done so time out of mind. 

Maybe you should make the somewhat smaller assumption that it happened as described in the OP, just so we're all on the same page here, discussing the same thing.

Sorry for the snark there, but I was talking about the story in the OP, not about what assumptions you made based on ... I'm not sure what exactly. Here is the relevant passage from the OP, the neo-Nazis terrorised the original population out of that village because they wanted to turn it into a "nationally liberated zone". See the bolded bits below for what they did. This is not just a bunch of neighbours bitching at eachother over loud noises at night. This is normal people from a village in the middle of nowhere being driven out by neo-Nazi militia nutheads with guns that do not shy away from using violence and setting your house on fire.

(Remember that unlike in the USA, in Germany people don't usually have guns, there's permits, but they're expensive, a huge hassle and need to be renewed every 3 years so you can't really keep a gun in the house for "just in case").

Krüger has shaped the village. He grew up here, with a father who was known as a right-wing radical and who used to make his son salute each morning in the snow. Young Krüger was an outsider at school, an acquaintance remembers, and didn't find friends until he joined the skinhead scene. As a young man, he incited right-wing thugs to attack a campsite and spent time in pre-trial detention on suspicion of burglary. Still, for a long time, the Krügers were the only neo-Nazis in the village.

"Now," says Horst Lohmeyer, "they see Jamel as a 'nationally liberated zone'" -- a neo-Nazi term for places foreigners and those of foreign descent must fear to tread. The extremists took over the village in just a few years. They now own seven of the 10 houses and have driven out anyone who couldn't come to terms with them. They battered down doors and broke windows, slashed tires, flew the German imperial war flag and celebrated Hitler's birthday. In the 1990s, they stuck dead chickens on one family's garden fence with the warning, "We'll smoke you out."

The village emptied and Krüger encouraged his right-wing friends to buy the available houses. Few others dared to venture into Jamel anymore. Neo-Nazis greeted one couple that wanted to move there with "Piss off" -- and the couple's house burned down shortly before they planned to move in. One new property owner dared to set foot in the village only accompanied by police.

The Lohmeyers have made it their life's work not to let themselves be driven out of Jamel. (...)

Sorry but not everybody is a warrior and when you suddenly find your neighbourhood filled with people that are actively trying to violently "smoke you out", most people are going to move away. Different from living in a "bad neighbourhood", because generally if you keep your head down, it's dangerous but you can at least live there, they won't come after you just because you're there. These neo-Nazis weren't going to stop until everybody that didn't share their ideology was gone.

The fact that THIS particular area of the world especially has been the benchmark for this type of scenario ALONE should be a DING DING DING clamoring loudly.  So "history" is exactly what I'm concerned about here--everyone goddamned well knows the history of Germany.  Unfortunately, repetition of some of its worst isn't apparently gainsaid because of that knowledge.

If there's anyone that knows this better than everybody, it's the Germans themselves.

This country hasn't so much been a benchmark, they have been the living example of "never again". Right up to the point where it was allowed to encroach upon free speech. That's how much they were willing to give up to ensure this. As someone once said, it's the only country with a National feeling of Guilt.

And it's failing, apparently. But you can't blame it on the Germans for not having tried their utmost best to prevent it.

And obviously it had to be in East-Germany, where these feelings grew easier because of having lived under a Communist system for so long, as opposed to West-Germany, living a pretty successful capitalist dream.

[Adios]

In America we would (waco) blast the shit out of them.