From: rowowzb1@mailszrz.zrz.tu-berlin.de (Beschaeftigte_am_WZB)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.german
Subject: SOS Racisme in Germany
Date: 23 Nov 1992 15:07:57 GMT
Organization: Wissenschaftszentrum_Berlin
Distribution: world
Reply-To: roehrig@artemis.wz-berlin.de
NNTP-Posting-Host: mailszrz.zrz.tu-berlin.de



                               Stop

                         the Raging Fire!



A wave of hopelessness and hatred is flooding Germany.


On Wednesday, September 9 numerous employees of the Science Center

for  Social  Research  Berlin  ("Wissenschaftszentrum  Berlin fuer

Sozialforschung") met  to consider  ways of expressing our protest

against the  escalating hatred  toward foreigners  and  mobilizing

public opposition.  Among other  things,  we  decided  to  send  a

protest letter via a privately sponsored fax-campaign to political

representatives and  the media  and to  call upon the personnel of

other science  and research  institutions to  join our protest and

assist us in funding a public declaration.


We have  decided to  translate our  declaration  into  French  and

English to  let our colleagues abroad know that life in Germany is

not dominated  by the  streets; on  the contrary,  a large protest

movement has  organized itself  to counteract  the attacks against

the dignity of human beings and our democracy.


(The following text was published in German in the Saturday/Sunday

7./8. November 1992 issue of the "Suddeutsche Zeitung" (a national

daily):


We, employees of the Science Center for Social Research Berlin and

the following  institutions come  from many  different nations. We

have observed  with consternation the exclusion of and assaults on

all  "non-Germans".  The  applause  for  the  flames  at  Rostock-

Lichtenhagen and  the growing  violence in  East and  West Germany

against foreigners,  refugees and  other minorities  impel  us  to

stand up against the erosion of basic democratic values.


Leading federal  and municipal  politicians and administrators are

channelling the  people's fear  in the  direction  of  foreigners,

refugees and  minorities in order to camouflage their helplessness

and failure to solve problems emerging in the unification process,

thereby causing:

- behavior determined by black-and-white thought patterns,

- erosion of hitherto existing taboos,

- disintegration of the state's monopoly on power.


We are  aware that  during the  Weimar Republic too few scientists

took an  active stand  against rising  totalitarian  thinking  and

action. We may not allow this to happen again.


We protest  against the  protentous erosion  of Article  1 of  our

constitution: "The dignity of the human being is inviolable"!


We demand that everything be done to protect the life and physical

well-being of the foreigners and minorities living here. We demand

a clear  political signal against the growing public acceptance of

violence directed at foreigners and other minorities.


We protest against the widespread disregard for the pain and fears

of many  people as  Germany attempts  to "grow  together"  into  a

single democracy.


We demand  that the  present economic  policy,  which  has  forced

almost every  second person  out of employment in East Germany, be

replaced by  a policy  that creates  working places  and  training

opportunities.

We demand  a housing policy that assures adequate living space and

socially amenable rents in the old and new Lnder.


We demand that politicians cease in suggesting that a modification

of the laws governing the right to asylum could solve the problems

of migration induced by poverty.


Totalitarianism may  not overpower  the democracy that has evolved

over the last 40 years.