Germany 
Amazon's
former private security firm with neo-Nazi employees is one of
many, say reports
20.02.2013
A documentary aired by German
TV channel ARD on Thursday night (14 February) about online
shopping firm Amazon's operations in Germany caused outrage and
was widely covered in the media.
The documentary revealed
that workers are being attracted from all over Europe with promises
of getting a contract with the firm. If they do get a job, workers
are monitored round-the-clock by guards from a security company
accused of having links to Neo-Nazi groups. [1]
The security firm used
by Amazon, with which it has ceased doing business following
the exposure, [2] is called HESS. According to the film-makers
this is not a coincidence and is a reference to Rudolph Hess,
one of Hitler's top deputies.
However, Amazon is not
the only company using private security firms that employ neo-Nazis.
The newspaper Märkische
Algemeine has reported that politicians are worried about
the high percentage of right-wing extremists employed by private
security companies. In the state of Brandenburg one in every
ten people working at a security company reportedly has extreme
right-wing connections/beliefs. [3]
Security companies with
a high number of far-right employees are often hired to guard
football matches and village events, and according to politicians
interviewed by the newspaper it is difficult to take action to
prevent this from happening
Björn Lakenmacher
from the conservative Christian Democrat Union (CDU) told Märkische
Algemeine that he once attended a village feast guarded by
such a security company and felt that the event had "a threatening
atmosphere".
The reports about private
security firms follow a series of revelations over the past year
about murders carried over a decade out by neo-Nazis in Germany.
The authorities have faced criticism "for failing to connect
the group with the attacks" and for subsequently carried
out substandard investigations. [4]
ARD's documentary on Amazon
can be viewed online here
(in German only).
Sources
[1] Amazon
Germany accused of using Neo-Nazis to monitor immigrant workers,
Expatica, 19/02/2013
[2] Amazon
dismisses German warehouse security firm, BBC News,
18/02/2013
[3] Klaus
Ness (SPD) missbilligt Neonazis im Wachschutzgewerbe,
Märkische Allgemeine, 13/02/2013
[4] Focus:
Right-wing extremism in Germany, Deutsche Welle