The Baffler
Commentators often blame the rise of the far right in East Germany on the social and economic consequences of “failed” reunification. But right-wing extremism is by no means exclusive to the neue Bundesländer in the East. In the postwar West, former Nazis were rehabilitated and integrated into the federal bureaucracy. The far right shaped the core institutions of the Federal Republic, which affected their ability—or willingness—to investigate or prosecute its crimes. Above: Scenes from the 1992 riots in Rostock-Lichtenhagen.