Updates

Here’s a good news story it would be difficult not to smile at.

At a neo-Nazi concert in Germany, organisers were anonymously given souvenir t-shirts sporting the slogan “hardcore rebels” with a skull and nationalist flags. The t-shirts were given out to the 250 attendees at the concert in Gera.

However, when the t-shirts were washed, the original slogan and images disappeared. In its place appeared “If your t-shirt can do it, you can do it too – we’ll help you get away from right-wing extremism” and contact information for a group called Exit, which helps neo-Nazis escape from the far-right scene.

The group has had the t-shirts specially made and had them sent to the organisers:

Bernd Wagner, founder of EXIT, said the t-shirts were designed to reach their main target group: right-wing extremists contemplating getting away.

“We wanted to raise awareness about our programme, especially among the young and less committed,” Wagner said.

It’s hard to see a downside of the Exit stunt. If they can get persuade neo-Nazis to leave that violent, racist and ugly scene, great! And even if they don’t, its worth it just to see a bunch of neo-Nazi idiots duped.

(Hat Tip: Jeffrey Goldberg of the Atlantic)

Tzvi Fleischer