Doris and Matthias Metzner admitted willingly that compared to others, they are "not to be pitied." On Monday, September 5, these two retired schoolteachers drove 40 kilometers to Leipzig to demonstrate against the policies of Olaf Scholz's government.
The fact that the government had promised 65 billion euros the day before to support the purchasing power of households in the face of soaring energy prices had not dissuaded them. On the contrary. "If the government thinks that this is how it can buy social peace, it is making a serious mistake. We don't want checks. We want a different policy," the two 60-year-olds said, before explaining "the few common-sense ideas that should be implemented to prevent people from freezing this winter: obtain a ceasefire in Ukraine, reconcile with Russia and open Nord Stream 2 to have gas again in sufficient quantity and at an affordable price."
When they came to demonstrate on Leipzig's vast Augustusplatz, the Metzners had the choice between two rallies, organized on each side of the tramway line that crosses the esplanade from west to east: that of the left-wing party Die Linke to the north and that of the Freie Sachsen ("Free Saxons"), a small, far-right regional party founded in 2021 by opponents of restrictive measures against Covid-19. The party has since been placed under surveillance by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution.
The two former teachers chose to demonstrate on the side of the square occupied by the Freie Sachsen, but rather because they did not see themselves "protesting with the socialists" than out of "sympathy for the Nazis," with whom they have "nothing in common." In any case, "it is not the membership of a party or a union" that made them come, but "the weariness of being considered as second-class citizens," which has "nothing to do with the right or the left," they said.
About 50 meters from there, behind a huge red banner calling to "block extremism and fascism," Brigitte and Wilfried, who did not wish to give their last name, also believed that the 65 billion euros of the government "are nothing but crumbs." The couple considered that "the sanctions against Russia should be lifted as soon as possible, because they penalize the Germans more than Putin," and that it is "absurd to leave Nord Stream 2 idle, even though it has been ready for use for a year."
When reminded that the same arguments were heard on the other side of the square, the two septuagenarians observed that there were "big differences" between the rally of the "fascists" and the one organized by Die Linke, in which they had chosen to participate "without being activists themselves."
You have 64.06% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.