Two prominent figures in the German Neo-Nazi movement, Thomas Wulff and Axel Schunk, recently purchased the decaying Trebnitz palace in an East German village, also named Trebnitz, located 20 miles southwest of Leipzig. While regional authorities worried that the manor will be used as some sort of training center or “Nazi college,” locals in the village are mostly ambivalent and declined to comment on the situation.
This article raises interesting questions to me on where it is appropriate to draw the line when it comes to the Neo-Nazi movement’s rights. Authorities are quite troubled, considering the past records of the two men in question, the location of the building near major highways within a region that seems to be a focal point for Neo-Nazis, as well as the building itself, which far-right extremists already attempted to turn into a political center in 2001. If the pair indeed decides to make the Trebnitz palace into an institution where Neo-Nazi doctrine will be taught, there is a fine line between what is legal, though perhaps morally questionable, and what directly defies the law. Either way, it’s all speculation at this point, since both Wulff and Schunk are keeping quiet about what their plans for the manor are. Regardless, they will be under strict surveillance.
