Germany III

So, I think I've gotten a bit paranoid since I was in East Germany a few days ago. I was staying with a young Ukranian woman, who was living there with her Italian husband, and was giving me a furrowed brow with her stories of her experience of living there. As the Ukraine is still not yet part of the EU, and also has previous connections to the USSR and communist regime, Ukranians in general are looked down upon by East Germans, thus it has been very hard for her to be allowed to have the papers made to find work, to make friends, etc. She also noted that one of the ultra right-wing parties was the one that held the majority of seats in the local parliament, which for her, had echoes of that of the Nazis. that one of her darker-skinned Spanish friends had indeed been beaten several times by white supremacists in their city.
To me, this is all a little disconcerting, as I find it very hard to understand how, in light of a history that went from ultra-right wing (Nazis) to ultra-left wing (GDR) in a short period of time, both demonstrating their shortcomings, that the East should swing all the way back to ultra-right wing.
Anyways, it was a big relief to take the train to Frankfurt, and, getting off the train, seeing people of all colours and creeds and nations again. The balance between the multiculturalism of Western cities such as Frankfurt and Berlin, with the continued homogeneity and general suspiciousness to foreigners in the East is likely an issue that the Germans will have to work with for several generations yet...