German neo-Nazi politician rescued by Syrian refugees

German neo-Nazi politician rescued by Syrian refugees
An anti-immigration politician from Germany's far-right National Democratic Party was saved by Syrian refugees after a car crash.
2 min read
23 March, 2016
Far-right groups in Germany have spread fear and division with anti-refugee rhetoric [Getty]
A German neo-Nazi politician, who was strongly critical of the "influx" of migrants, has been saved by Syrian refugees after his car slammed into a tree.

Stefan Jagsch, a member of the far-right National Democratic Party, was badly injured when two passing refugees found him, local newspapers and national news agency DPA said.

The asylum seekers pulled 29-yer-old Jagsch from the wreckage and delivered first aid at the crash site near the town of Budingen, where a new refugee shelter has been set up.

The NPD's Hesse state chief, Jean Christoph Fiedler, called the rescue effort "apparently a very good, humane act", adding that Jagsch himself could not clearly remember the accident, the Frankfurter Rundschau reported.

The large influx of migrants to Germany has sparked a xenophobic backlash from many far-right politicians, including Jagsch, who believes Germany's laid-back asylum laws have "flooded" the country with criminals.

With an estimated 5,000 members, Germany's National Democratic Party has a staunch anti-immigrant stance that has been widely criticised.

The far-right group, which boasts a standard "Our nation first" slogan used anti-refugee rhetoric to boost its election campaign.

Offensive election posters declaring If Ali is a criminal, send him back home pronto! and For a safe life end the flood of refugees were used to land the party a win in the town of Budinengen - where the crash took place last week.

German authorities have attempted to ban the provocative group on several occasions without much success.

However, a new report analysing the group suggests it has alleged close links to outlawed neo-Nazi groups, probing authorities to reconsider the decision, with a new parliamentary request to ban the group surfacing.

"The NPD is a party that is an enemy of the constitution. We want to start a process to ban it," said Hans-Peter Friedrich, German minister of interior.

More than one million refugees from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere have arrived in Germany in recent years, in what is known as the world's worst refugee crisis since the Second World War.