Enlarge image

SC coach Christian Streich

Photo: Bernd Thissen / dpa

Christian Streich has once again warned of a shift to the right in Germany. “Now the agitators are coming and they are trying to find a platform to gain power,” said the coach of the Bundesliga soccer team SC Freiburg in an RTL interview. These would polarize and portray everything negatively, “with the worst possible accusations.” Now we have to fight to ensure that parties like the AfD do not come into government, said the 58-year-old.

"Otherwise the dikes could break and then it will collapse on us." Almost a month ago, Streich had already called for a clear position to be taken during the Germany-wide protests against right-wing extremism. Now he reiterated this message shortly before the second round first leg of the Europa League at RC Lens on Thursday evening (9 p.m./RTL).

»I heard many stories from my grandmother«

Streich, who studied second-chance history after attending secondary school, sees a special responsibility in raising his voice. He read a lot about the emergence of National Socialism in Germany and also spoke about it with contemporary witnesses. That's why he has to say something, "because I know what processes are like, how totalitarian systems work and how they come about. And that’s why I have to pass this on.”

The long-time SC coach also worries “about our children, my children, who should have their lives ahead of them in peace.” That's why he never tires of remembering Germany's dark past in the Third Reich: "When I was young, I saw the silent 50-year-old men who were in Stalingrad. And I heard a lot of stories from my grandmother, in my own family." Two to three generations later, however, many would lose sight of the Nazi era: "Especially when the people who experienced it die and are no longer there .”

Of course there are many people who have problems, said the football coach, citing rising food prices as an example. “But you might want to think about why. Why energy costs so much.« This is not due to the politicians in Germany, but rather to Russian President Vladimir Putin and his war of aggression against Ukraine. Putin, whom Streich called a "dictator," is responsible for incredible suffering there.

With regard to Germany, Streich said: "It is sometimes shocking that a quarter or a fifth in our country, and in some cases even more, only beat politicians." And the people who are really responsible in Russia are sometimes still visited by representatives of the AfD and would have their sympathies expressed, “which then says it all.”

ara/dpa