Right-wing Extremist Organizations of Modern Germany: Attempts to Revise History as a Threat to Social Cohesion

Abstract

The article presents an analysis of the activities of right-wing extremist organizations in Germany aimed at revising the results of the Second World War. Historical revisionism has become a central place of propaganda for German legal extremism since the 1970s. Its goal is not to generate new scientific knowledge, but to be aimed solely at an ideologically motivated rethinking of historical facts. They present events, creating the impression of an unbiased study of a historical source in a little-informed community. In accordance with their worldview, right-wing extremists deny the guilt of Germany in unleashing the Second World War, transferring it to the victorious powers. In modern Germany, the number of supporters of neo-Nazi groups has increased, which is a blow to social cohesion. In order to counteract this, significant work is being carried out by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the police and other State structures. A special role is being played by research activities. In 2020 A research institute of social cohesion was established on the basis of eleven higher educational institutions and research institutions. It is a structure funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, located in ten different lands. Almost 200 scientists from different research teams are developing practical proposals that will help solve the social problems of our time, using empirical research and large-scale comparisons. Among the topics that are analyzed and become the basis for the development of practical proposals, the themes of conflict, polarization and populism, as well as anti-Semitism and hate crimes occupy a prominent place.