Guess. The vote turned out to be a disaster for the countrys second largest party, the social democrats, who had their worst poll showing in post war germany. Yet, it was a triumph for the right wing populist party the afd. Our reporter visited, essen, a city in western germany and showed us how this long time social democratic stronghold was swiftly ousted by the afd. The city of essen is this politicians hometown. But since the german election, Karlheinz Endruschat, a social democrat, says he doesnt recognize it. In the past, his party usually won an easy majority. But this time just 28 percent. Many of endruschhats neighbors told him they were voting for the farright afd party. They said, we come from a family thats always voted spd, but we voted afd because we felt we needed to send a strong signal. We have to win back these voters. If we just sit around another four years, thats not going to happen. Endruschat is at pains to find out how to get his constituents back in his camp at least in the Industrial City of essen. Even in his neighborhood pub, he runs into afd sympathizers. I would have voted for the afd too. But you know what . I threw away my ballot paper and that was it. The police even dont dare to get out of their car at our local rail station, although theres two of them. In essen, crime is rising, unemployment is at 11 percent, 40 percent of the residents are migrants and the city is broke. Theres little the municipal government can do to solve these problems as the farright makes inroads into what was once a social democrat bastion. Yet the industrial ruhr valley is often touted as a model for successful integration of hundreds of thousands of foreigners who were once known as guest workers. At an antiracism rally in essen, germans and migrants are protesting against the rise of the afd. Many migrants are concerned. The afd will try to stop us Holding Events like this, supporting integration and against racism. That will increase tension. And this tension will influence how the residents coexist together. It will be a negative influence 13 for the afd the afds members celebrated their triumph at a party in berlin on sunday. Harald parussel likes to replay this scene on his computer. Parussel is an afd functionary in essen. A onetime spd member, he felt the party wasnt addressing his concerns anymore. They wouldnt allow him to express doubts about the countrys refugee policy. He says hes no racist after all, hes been teaching immigrants children for years. But he also understands some afd members demands that the country finally put its nazi past to bed. Ive got the feeling that society nurtures a kind of pride in our guilt. Every time a german shows budding patriotism, they get out a big swastika and bang it over his head. Then Television News reports discord in the afds Parliamentary Party one day after the election. Parussel is bewildered. And suddenly, hes no longer certain that his party will exist four years from now. Thats a major rumble really major spd man endruschat coudnt care less about the afds internal squabbles. He wants voters in his constituency to regain their faith in democracy. Hes doing that by initiating an antilitter campaign. People should get the feeling here, that politicians care about them. What do you think of the election result . Well see what happens. Do you have any hopes . Hope springs eternal. Theres not much more Karlheinz Endruschat can do other than hope the spds fortunes improve. What is clear after the vote is that nothing in essen is as it used to be. Many people here in germany are worried that some prominent afd members have spoken negatively about germanys efforts to come to terms with its nazi past, some even going so far as calling the holocaust quote ridiculous. 90year old Horst Selbiger from berlin is a german jew who experienced the nazi terror and survived. He is deeply shocked by the elections outcome. We will hunt them. We will hunt mrs. Merkel or whoever and we will take our country and our people back again. So, what does he want . The 1939 borders . Itll be a rough road with this gentleman. Of course it frightens me, that the parliament, the bundestag, wont be the bundestag it used to be. I just hope that some real rethinking takes place now and this blindness towards farright tendencies is replaced by a microscopic focus on them, and that these disagreeable rightists will be seen for who they are. And i hope that this confrontation takes place in the new bundestag. And not that the afd dominates it to the contrary the country and you can find out more about Horst Selbiger and his personal appeal on our Facebook Page dw stories. More than a decade ago, sweden demilitarized its strategically placed island, gotland after deeming russia was no longer a threat to their security. But frequent military maneuvers by russia like the recent one on natos eastern flanc, have rattled the nerves in the scandinavian country known for its neutrality. And as a result it has beefed up its defenses. While some residents of the outlying island dont view engaging with this once robust trade partner as a problem, others fear that russia could once again shift europes borders. Usually, only rifle clubs practice in gotlands tofta forest. And this World War Two era cannon has certainly seen better days. But this fake building is a sign that sweden is holding its largest maneuver in decades. Patrik monard belongs to swedens 18th battalion. It was transferred to gotland following russias crimea annexation. How does it feel to be exercising in gotland again . Excellent. Now were doing the right thing. It was a mistake maybe to downsize the National Defence in the way they did. It feels good to be here again. Four tanks were moved to gotland from the mainland. Theyre not state of the art. Its evident sweden hasnt been involved in wars for a while. The soldiers are new recruits with lots to learn. The Swedish Company is pretty new. They started their service in june this year. So we have a little but to do before we get where we want to be. Since russia began redrawing european borders, fears of a surprise attack on sweden have been growing. Gotland could be a target. But the swedes worry they couldnt defend it alone. Which is why theyve called on american support now, for the first time, american apache attack helicopters are thundering over the island, practicing attack sorties. As swedish tank crews practice their aim. Swedens always preferred to remain a neutral state. And so, swedens officers dont mention russia at the drill. Instead, they simply talk of reds versus blues. Also a red side played by some another swedish unit and some finish units. And also some american units. And you are the blue ones . Why is there red and blue . Thats just the colours. Typically thats how it is in the military stetting. Its red versus blue. Theres a back story to this drill one that shows how worried the swedes are. Were headed to the poor, eastern part of gotland. Its a quiet region, with few jobs, and much debt. Many are moving away. Were in the harbour town of slite. Theres a cement factory, and little else. They used to keep pipes here for the germanrussian nordstream 2 gas pipeline. Now, theres just a piles of logs. Swedens government was worried russia could establish a secret military base here. You call this putin quay . Yes. But we used to call it pharmacist quay. Thats where nordstream stored pipes for the first pipeline. And why shouldnt they . Every week we get a russian ship transporting coal, plaster or cement. Keeping the pipes here wasnt an issue. Why should it be an issue now . Why cant we store pipes for nordstream 2 here . I dont get it. So the people of slite missed out on 50 million kronas roughly 5 million euro worth of business. A new storage site is now being constructed in karlshamn, on the mainland. Due to their long tradition of trading with russia, few people in slite are worried about their large eastern neighbour. If the russians wanted to conquer gotland, they could do so anytime. They dont need our harbour for that. After the three day drill, several hundred soldiers remain on the island. Too few, thinks patrik monard. Military officers like him are suspicious of the russians. They think who controls gotland, controls the baltic. I want to know if the Soldiers Left here will be enough well, as a defence army can we be enough soldiers . I dont know. A reasonable consideration. But an unusual one for a swede. After all, the country hasnt fought a war in over 200 years. A young german mother and her small son are in jail in turkey, facing an uncertain future. Meshale tolu is one of over a hundred journalists caught up president erdogans wave of arrests since last summers failed coup. And when her son serkan is allowed to visit his father, he must go to another prison because he too was arrested. Serkan only gets a glimpse of normality when his grandfather visits him. The bakirkoy womens prison in istanbul. Ali reza tolu comes here regularly to visit his daughter mesale. This time he plans to take his twoandahalf year old grandson with him when he leaves. Serkan lives together with his mother in jail. After their halfhour visit, the boy is carried out by his aunt. Many other family members are waiting for them outside. Theyre looking forward to spending the weekend with serkan. When i get to see my grandchild im very happy. Then im so pleased i feel like the luckiest man in the whole world. Mesale tolu was arrested on april 30th and has been in detention ever since. Turkeys Public Prosecutor accuses her of disseminating terrorist propaganda and being a member of a terrorist organization. Tolu, who only holds german citizenship, worked as a journalist and translator for a leftist turkish news agency. Before spending the weekend with his grandparents, serkan visits his father. Suat corlu was active in a socialist party. He was arrested shortly before his wife was. Now in silivri prison, hes also accused of belonging to a terrorist group. Its not much of a childhood for a two year old living with his mother in one jail, and visiting his father in another. After the visit, ali reza tolu tells us that serkan and his father were still separated by a pane of glass. This is the second time ive brought him over here. Serkan sees him through the glass and talks to him over the phone. Its not nice, but at least he gets to see his father. He was happy and said daddy, when are you coming back . His dad said hes vacationing here for a while serkans parents are trying to shield their son from the reality that theyre both in prison. It was his mothers decision to have serkan live in the jail cell with her. Ali reza tolu says that his daughter and grandson are being welltreated. Still, spending the weekend outside prison walls is important for the childs development. Ali reza tolu regularly meets with his daughters lawyer. Mesale tolus trial is set to begin on october 11th in istanbul. Her lawyer is worried, because she says that right now judges are ruling largely in favour of the policies of turkish president recep tayyip erdogan. She can only shake her head at the charges against her client. In 2015, mesale tolu attended the funerals of two leftwing extremists belonging to the outlawed marxistleninist communist party, who were killed by police in istanbul. The same year she also attended a Memorial Service for a member of the Kurdish Militia ypg who died in the fight against is in the same year she also attended syria. The events were an expression of freedom of speech. They took place under the supervision of Turkish Security authorities and ended peacefully. Now theyre being denounced as terrorist propaganda and attending them implies you belong to a terrorist organization. Its time for serkan to go back to his mother. Ali reza tolu hopes his daughter will be released in october, after her trial. But he has his doubts about the justice system. Theyre always looking for evidence, but there is none. They only arrested her to get revenge on germany or something. Thats all. Thats all. Turkeys government swears that the countrys judiciary is independent. Mesale tolus lawyer says that if the judge rules in accordance with the law, the journalist and her son should be out of jail in october. Catalonia is one of spains wealthiest regions. It not only contributes billions of euros to the countrys coffers, but it also has its own language and identity. These are some of the factors why this region in the northeast dreams of independence. Even so, not all catalans are in favor. In the small town of esparreguera, divided views threaten to tear this community apart. In esparreguera theyre proud of their church, its annual passion play, called the life and passion of jesus christ, and social solidarity. But since the Catalan Government decided to hold a referendum on independence from spain, the community has been split. Eduard rivas is at the center of the conflict. As mayor, he decided not to allow public buildings to be used as polling places. As mayor its my job to ensure theres a social consensus and to support things that do not divide society. Because the Independence Initiative is controversial, i cant support the referendum. It threatens the office of mayor and the jobs of public employees. Polling will now take place in an auditorium, the teatre la passio. Referendum proponents want it to be held at any price. Its about the right to selfdetermination, which is again the subject of the referendum. The population can decide freely whether they want independence or not. A political party, ciudadanos, opposes that position, as does the Spanish Government in madrid. Its illegal, because it violates the spanish consitution and current laws. Its against the law. In all parts of the town, people are campaigning to convince fellow citizens of their stance on the issue. For us, independence is an indispensible tool for building a catalan republic, which will serve to create a new society. This view is gaining more and more support in esparreguera. These demonstrators chant vote vote of course that has an impact on me, as a mayor and neighbor. Its a tragedy that contributes to neither unity nor consensus. Catalonia is deeply divided. Eduard rivas is seeking common ground. A dedicated european, he does not want a catalan brexit. Independence wont help us achieve our aims as a country or as a community. Instead, we should be seeking to become more european and organize on a continental level. The debate is dominating the programe of the local radio station. The mayor has seen sentiment against him growing. Social media is full of insults and disrespectful posts. I think thats partially related to what the Regional Government has said about mayors who arent going along with the referendum. Thats rather worrying. A short time later, the dispute escalated when Spanish Police arrested a number of Regional Government representatives in barcelona, the catalan capital. Madrid was apparently trying force the issue. Although he opposes the referendum, the mayor says it was contraproductive to involve the police. As of today, any dialogue to resolve the problem has become a distant prospect. Madrids demonstration of power has pushed referendum supporters and opponents together, even esparreguera. Here theyre certain that the vote will be held somehow. Who doesnt like a bargain . I myself am not shy about haggling at a Farmers Market or garage sale for a good price. And in belgium, it seems, a barteringfever has taken hold of the country. But not in one of the countrys famed flea markets but in the tax office. Overwhelmed by the amount of storage required, this Government Department regularly sells seized goods anything from old dvds and Household Appliances to a maserati. This warehouse is part of a socalled fin shop. Its here where everything ends up that the state doesnt need anymore, or what he confiscates from thieves, what he gets from inheritances without inheritors; lost and found items never collected. Its quite suprising how many belgians love baseball. This is what the police collected. Was someone attacked with that, really killed . No. Then we woulnt find it here. This was in the back seat of a car, or maybe someone was threatened with it. Theres quite a few. We have these very often, too, a very nice toolbox, probably from a burglar. The primary job of the fin shops is holding auctions, but another important business is selling cars. A hummer, a maserati and approximately 90 other cars are on offer, often with an unclear history. Professional hagglers go over every inch of them. Commonly the absence of papers or a guarantee pose problems. Test drives are not allowed. Even starting the car is prohibited. A Risky Business for the connoisseurs of the scene. This used to be more interesting. But since they let everyone come here, private people are spoiling our business. The auction room is packed. The maserati starts at 15,000 euros despite being an almost ten year old gazguzzler. The offer is way too high many here think. It still goes for 28,000. Our trader, who was very keen on a germanmade car eventually has to let it go. Competition here has become fierce he had warned me before. His highest offer was 14,000 euros he told me, but it just went higher and higher. He leaves bitterly disappointed. The state earned 380,000 euros today, a new record. But theres still plenty left. And anyone who believes much of it belong in the trashcan, there are plenty of those here, too. Governments normally get criticised for tax and spend policies but this one is a hit thats it for today. Goodbye from me and the whole team. See you next time [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org]
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