An ugly day in Dresden

In what’s becoming an annual tradition, roughly 6,000 neo-Nazis and other far-right extremists marched in Dresden over the weekend to commemorate the 64th anniversary of the city’s firebombing during World War II. It was one of the largest gatherings of neo-Nazis in Germany’s postwar history:

The marchers were met by about 10,000 counter-demonstrators including leaders of Germany’s Green and Social Democratic parties. Riot police struggled to keep the two sides apart:

Der Spiegel comments:

Most in Dresden, of course, would like to commemorate the bombing absent the political wrangling over its historical meaning. Instead, each year turns into an absurd competition over which side can produce the most demonstrators, the neo-Nazis or the anti-Nazis. […]

Indeed, the fact that the demonstration is now little more than a numbers game, say German commentators, means that the neo-Nazis have found a fair amount of success in coopting the date for their own purposes.

Photos: NORBERT MILLAUER/AFP/Getty Images, JENS SCHLUETER/AFP/Getty Images, Carsten Koall/Getty Images