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Itongadol.- Berlin – Berlin-based, neo-Nazi group has been active on Facebook recently, under the name “Berlin Autonomous Nationalists” (Autonome Nationalisten Berlin).
On New Year’s Eve the group posted a status update entitled “Guten Rutsch – NEIN Danke!” meaning “Happy New Year – NO Thanks!”, in reference to the customary “Guten Rutsch” New Year greeting in Germany and Austria.
The neo-Nazi group states at length that it is a “disgrace” that this phrase is being used in Germany to convey well wishes, as the expression “has Jewish origins and nothing to do with German culture” and its use must “finally be put a stop to”.
The theory that the phrase “Guten Rutsch” stems from the Jewish New Year festival of Rosh Hashanah is widely debunked.