46 No. 77 JUSTICE under § 130 (4) StGB are rare in German jurisprudence. Rather, this paragraph primarily concerns expressions that glorify or justify the National Socialist regime of violence and arbitrariness itself − which constitute violations.56 For example, a person selling T-shirts online with the slogan “Glory and Honour to the Waffen-SS57 or organizing an assembly in “commemoration of Rudolf Hess (Hitler’s Deputy),”58 must expect criminal prosecution under paragraph 4. Yet those who glorify Nazi crimes also contribute to legitimizing the dehumanization of the Jewish population. In this, too, a precursor act to violence can be discerned. V. Final Consideration The resurgent antisemitism in Europe is deeply alarming.59 While it is a problem in its own right and affects the public discourse, it leads to actual attacks on Jewish men and women. At the same time, antisemitism is a symptom of a broader social phenomenon: “A specter is haunting Europe”60 – it is the specter of anti-democratic authoritarianism, the specter of populist right-wing radicalism. It is not only the rights of minorities that are endangered, but also the freedom of all, whose guarantor is the democratically constituted rule of law. Conspiracy narratives represent a historical constant. They are part of social communication, in many cases not subject to criminal sanctions, and covered by the scope of freedom of expression. Their increased occurrence is often an expression of social crises and can lower the threshold for physical violence against minorities – particularly when such narratives are taken up and amplified by political forces. The fact that conspiracy narratives played a central role in the fascist systems of modernity should, in this context, inspire special vigilance. Such narratives unfold their true potential for danger especially when they are not merely espoused by individuals but become the ideological foundation of political systems. No fascist regime of modernity existed without the construction of an alleged conspiracy and the “obsession with a conspiracy.”61 This always served as an ideological instrument for the legitimation of exclusion, repression, and violence – whether in National Socialism, Stalinism, or other authoritarian forms of rule. The social constellations that favor the resurgence of antisemitism and conspiracy-ideological worldviews cannot be eliminated by the means of the rule of law alone. The best guarantor of the rights of minorities is a democratically constituted state under the rule of law. Freedom of expression is an indispensable element in such a state. It grants this right even to those who question it and turn against it. That, as is well known, is its greatest strength and, at the same time, its Achilles’ heel. However, when statements cross the line of what is legally permissible — when they deliberately incite hatred and foster a readiness for violence — the rule of law must intervene, while remaining mindful of the importance of freedom of expression for democracy.n Lena Gautam holds a PhD in Eastern European history and has a law degree (first state examination). She is a research assistant at the Chair of Civil Law and Modern Legal History at the Faculty of Law of the European University Viadrina in Frankfurt (Oder), where she works on the research project “Seeing Antisemitism Through Law.” Niklas Pretsch holds a B.A. degree in Law and Politics and is a research assistant at the Faculty of Law, Chair of Civil Law and Modern Legal History, where he is also working on the research project “Seeing Antisemitism Through Law.” 56. MüKoStGB/Anstötz StGB § 130 para. 87. 57. OLG Rostock, decision of July 19, 2007 – 1 Ss 107/07 I 50/07 –, juris. 58. BVerwG, decision of June 25, 2008 - 6 C 21/07, NJW 2009, p. 98. 59. In Germany, there was an increase in antisemitic crimes in 2024, with 6,236 cases reported, representing a 20% increase compared to the previous year, when the number had already doubled. See “Politically motivated crime: Highest increase since records began,” BUNDESKRIMINALAMT (Oct. 20, 2025), available at https://www.bka.de/DE/UnsereAufgaben/ Deliktsbereiche/PMK/PMKZahlen2024/PMKZahlen2024.html?nn=56978#Start 60. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, THE COMMUNIST MANIFESTO 218 (Penguin Classics 2002). 61. Umberto Eco, DER EWIGE FASCHISMUS 24 (Carl Hanser Verlag GmbH & Co. KG 2020).
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