Saxony: Minister against prosecution of neo-Nazi students

Dresden/Erfurt – Seriously? What’s that supposed to mean? The Minister of Justice of Saxony believes: Anyone who shows a Hitler salute in the classroom should get away without being prosecuted!

After the push from Thuringia to prosecute neo-Nazi students, the neighboring state of Saxony is skeptical. The School A protected space for children must remain, said Saxony’s Justice Minister Constanze Geiert to MDR. According to the CDU politician, such incidents are not a case for criminal law. Instead, educational measures and youth welfare should be the method of choice.

Prosecution of neo-Nazi students is hardly possible

The background is a planned Federal Council initiative by Thuringia to bring incidents such as swastikas under school desks and Hitler salutes in the schoolyard to court in the future. So far, it has not been possible to prosecute such incidents in schools: their use is punishable more anti-constitutional So far, symbols have only been used when they are shown publicly. Schools are not included.

Gap in the law should be closed

“Forbidden signs and gestures – just like anti-constitutional statements – have no place in our schools,” said Thuringia’s Education Minister Christian Tischner (44, CDU). According to Thuringia’s Justice Minister Beate Meißner (43, CDU), the initiative affects young people aged 14 and over. Meißner to BILD: “We must not allow a technical gap in the criminal code to lead to that anti-constitutional provocations have no consequences.“

More and more incidents like this

The number of such incidents in Germany’s schools is exploding. According to the Thuringian Ministry of Justice, the number of incidents of using the symbols of unconstitutional organizations in Thuringian schools increased from 49 in 2021 to 122 in 2024 and to 173 in 2025.