A German Town Turned a Nazi March Into a Fundraiser Against Nazis
Residents pledged money for every 10 meters marched, to help extremists get out.
Channel 4 News · Rutger Bregman on elites, survival of the friendliest, rethinking human historyEvery year, neo-Nazis held a march in a town in Germany.
Then the town announced it would treat the march as a charity event. For every 10 meters the marchers walked, it promised funds for an organization that assists people in exiting neo-Nazi movements.
The marchers kept walking, and the town's pledges grew with each stretch they walked, sending more money to work against their cause. The annual show of strength became a fundraiser against itself, where distance walked meant money for exits.
The episode is historian Rutger Bregman's example for his eighth rule for living: don't punch Nazis. Bregman, author of a book arguing that most people are decent, uses the story to argue that moral confrontation can backfire, and that humor and generosity can work better.
The warning about righteousness comes from author Rebecca Solnit, one of Bregman's favorite writers. Solnit once remarked, Bregman says, that a certain kind of activism cares more about feeling good about being right than about actually achieving results.
Bregman points to activists on the left who favor punching Nazis and say they are fighting fascism, and asks whether that is really the most effective approach. In his view, punching fits the narrative of the people being fought, and probably gives them a feeling of being oppressed that helps them win new followers. He compares it to dropping a bomb in the Middle East, which he says often drives fresh recruitment for the other side, since force confirms the story that the other side tells about its enemy.
The German town did the opposite, he says. It answered a march with pledges instead of punches, a response he calls hilarious and far more effective at reaching people.
In Bregman's reading, the lesson is not to excuse the march but to avoid giving extremists the fight they want. By turning distance walked into money for exits, the town made the march work against its purpose, and showed how refusing a physical fight can still be a form of opposition.
Questions people ask
Why would mocking the march work better than fighting it?
Bregman's argument is that force confirms an extremist group's story that it is under attack, which can tighten loyalty and attract sympathy. Humor and unexpected kindness deny them that story, while still opposing their ideas. The town opposed the march by making it raise money for the opposite cause.
What does a group that helps people leave extremism actually do?
Yes. Groups in several countries, often staffed by former extremists, offer counseling, job help, housing, and a way to break social ties without facing retaliation alone. Leaving is usually hard because members lose friends, identity, and sometimes safety, so outside help lowers the cost of quitting.
Is there other evidence that outreach beats confrontation?
Social scientists have found that people often join extreme groups for belonging and friendship as much as for beliefs. Outreach that offers connection, work, and respect can reduce recruitment more effectively than shame alone. Denmark, for example, cut the number of young people leaving for Syria with mentoring and jobs.