Two teachers in eastern Germany tried to counter the far-right activities of students at their small town high school. They counseled bullies who threatened to beat up immigrant classmates. They gave more lessons about their country’s Nazi past. They invited in a Black rapper to talk about mutual respect

None of it helped. In desperation, Laura Nickel and Max Teske wrote a public letter in which they described an atmosphere of intimidation at Mina Witkojc School in Burg. They reported students greeting each other with the Nazi salute, scratching swastikas on their desks and playing music with racist lyrics in the hallways

“Teachers and students who openly fight against far-right students and teachers fear for their safety,” the two said in the letter they sent to local newspapers. “The problem has to be recognized and openly fought. Schools should be places free of fear, full of open-mindedness and safety for everyone and cannot provide a home for the enemies of democracy”

Even so, Nickel, who taught English and history at the high school, and Teske, a math and geography teacher, were unprepared for the backlash[…]A letter from an anonymous group of parents demanded their dismissals. Stickers with their pictures and the caption “Piss off to Berlin” plastered light poles near campus. On social media, someone declared a desire to “hunt them down”

Further disheartened by what they say was a lack of support from colleagues, the principal and local administrators, Nickel and Teske announced when the academic year ended two weeks ago that they were leaving[…]
“Far-right extremist statements, actions, slogans, homophobia and sexism were and are the order of the day at this school”[…]
After the teachers announced their withdrawal from Burg, the head of the AfD chapter in Cottbus [Jean-Pascal Hohm], Brandenburg state’s second-largest city, cheered on Twitter that Teske, whom he called a “leftist radical informer,” and his “accomplice” were gone