Anti-fascists beat up Czech neo-Nazis

PRAGUE, Czech Republic, Nov. 11 (UPI) -- More than 10 neo-Nazis were recovering from beatings meted out by anti-fascists in Prague during a 1938 Nazi anniversary rally.

The skinheads were attacked in front of the Charles University Law Faculty Saturday as they attempted to celebrate the anniversary of Krystalnacht, the 1938 Nazi attack on Jewish properties in which thousands of windows were smashed, giving name to "Crystal Night."

The Independent on Sunday reported about 50 people were arrested, mostly for weapons charges. A masked spokesman for the anti-fascist movement said his group had beaten at least 12 neo-Nazis, although police said only six people were injured.

Last week, the country's highest court banned a rally in the Jewish Quarter by the extreme right Young National Democrats, and some 1,400 police were deployed Saturday to head off skinheads and supporters from gathering, the newspaper said.

"In the 1930s nobody in Europe took these small bands of fascists seriously and look what happened," said anti-fascist Alena Hladkova. "So the neo-Nazi movement might be small, but we need to show them they cannot dare desecrate the memory of the Holocaust."