Recent days have seen several violent protests in the city of Chemnitz in Germany, after a 35-year-old German carpenter was stabbed to death by "asylum seekers".
Protesters chanted "Merkel must go" and "We are the people" while waving German flags.
Following the violent protests, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas called on German citizens to fight anti-Semitism, neo-Nazism, and racism in German society.
"Unfortunately, a comfort zone has spread in our society and we have to overcome it, we have to get up from the couch and speak out loud. The years we've been in a coma must end, and if the Nazi salute to Hitler is presented again today in our streets, this will be a disgrace to our country," Maas said.
"We have to face the extreme right, we cannot bend, we must show our faces to neo-Nazis and anti-Semites, and then Germany's reputation will not be permanently harmed by xenophobic crimes," he added.
The violent demonstrations in the city of Chemnitz in Germany began after a 35-year-old local citizen was stabbed to death by two migrants. The protests were strongly criticized by senior officials in Berlin.
Heiko Maas himself noted his decision to enter politics stemmed from Germany's Nazi past and his desire to act against the anti-Semitic forces still operating in the country. "My European colleagues often ask me about the extreme right-wing movements, racism, and xenophobia in Germany, and Germany rightly receives criticism for this," Maas said.
