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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Kathryn Quinn

Locals buy up all town’s beer so neo-Nazis can’t drink at music festival

Wily residents of a German town snapped up every can of beer from their local supermarket so that the neo-Nazis holding a festival there had nothing to drink.

Police had imposed an alcohol ban at the 'Schild und Schwert Festival' ('Shield and Sword Festival') in Ostritz, in the Free State of Saxony, near Germany's border with Poland, over fears of violence.

The locals plotted their plan after spotting around 60 neo-Nazis in the supermarket car park drinking beer.

Local activist Georg Salditt said: "There were about 60 of the festival visitors on the supermarket car park, despite the ban at the festival they were still able to get their hands on beer."

An Aryan Brotherhood banner and empty beer bottles outside the venue where the festival takes place (Alamy Live News.)

The town's locals banded together and chipped in to buy the entire beer supply from the local supermarket mounting to more than 200 crates of beer.

The day before, police had confiscated 4,400 litres of beer at the festival.

The alcohol ban was imposed after a court in Bautzen, east of Dresden, ruled that booze could increase the likelihood of violence at the event.

Locals in the German town now have a lot of beer to get through (CEN/ Friedensfest)

Around 600 neo-Nazis visited the festival at the weekend in the town, which has a population of 2,300.

Mr Salditt, 46, from the International Meeting Centre, his colleague Andreas Ebermann, 59, and their friends managed to get their hands on 100 crates of beer between them.

Salditt said: "We made the plan a week previously. We wanted to make sure the neo-Nazis went without beer.

"We thought that if an alcohol ban was imposed we would go to the local Penny supermarket and buy up all the beer.

In total around thirty locals bought over 200 crates of beer.

Police confiscate the alcohol from the festival (CEN)
Some of the booze police confiscated from the German festival following a court order (CEN)

Mr Salditt said the neo-Nazis were not impressed.

"When they found out about our actions they shouted insults, calling us anti-fascists and sons of b******."

The International Meeting Centre now has around 100 crates of beer to get through.

But Mr Salditt said they were up to the task.

"We have 150 beds, our guests and seminar visitors will enjoy drinking it."

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