Neo-Nazi Existence in Germany

I was talking with my grandmother recently about Germany. My family is Jewish and my grandmother lived during the Holocaust. Needless to say, she has residual feelings.

I was considering a trip to Germany, and she lightly gripped my arm. She came close and said, "I had to stop over in Germany on a trip one time... All I did was switch planes, and I had trouble doing that. I was terrified. I didn't think I could make it."

I wasn't quite sure what to say, so I said nothing. I smiled at her, and we visited and had dinner like a normal family.

This whole incident made me think about Germany even more. Was there still a Neo-Nazi following? I have a class with a German exchange student named Till Herzog. I told Till that I was Jewish, and was thinking about Germany and the Nazis. He said to me:

"For you to go to Germany, you would have to say you weren't Jewish. Where I live, there are bad people. If they knew you were Jewish, they would hurt you. Me too, if I was with you."

Not too long ago, I was playing an innocent game of Diablo 2. I got into an argument with a fellow player about religion. Don't get me wrong, I'm not religious, but it came about anyways. He soon told me he would "kill me" and that the "Nazis will take over the world and rule again."

I have been very dissapointed with people like this. I thought humanity was passed this horrid way of thought. I guess I was wrong. But, I will never lose my faith in humanity. Ever.

Duuno where Till came from; perhaps former East Germany where there's a high jobless rate and thus people are looking for someone to vent their frustration at.

Generally, there aren't all that many Neo-Nazis in Gemany. Of course each one is one too many, but there are fewer ones than in most other countries. You can't get rid of them completely without seriously endangering civil rights. Germany already has strict laws forbidding most Nazi propaganda.

A typical Neo-Nazi gathering in Germany looks like this: about 300 shaved heads shouting carefully worded (so as not to be illegal) hate paroles and waving flags march along a street. 2 streets away, 500 more or less radical leftists stage a counter-demonstration. Between them, there are 1000 police officers to ensure they don't meet and kill each other.