“Wir sind das Volk.” In German it means, “We are the people.” This chant echoed through the streets of Chemnitz, Germany, this week, as far-right protesters set out to vent their frustrations, create mayhem and attack refugees. It was also heard in Clausnitz in early 2016, as a mob of Germans surrounded a bus of refugees entering their town. And later that year in Bautzen, as 80 Germans chased some 20 teenage refugees through the streets. The chant has become a go-to for the German far right. But it wasn’t always an extremist rallying cry. “Leipzig is a city of protest again tonight.” In 1989, people in East Germany took to the streets to demand more freedom, after living under an oppressive communist regime for decades. Their movement was neither of the right nor the left. It was a cry for democracy. After German reunification, the chant largely disappeared. But in recent years, it has been co-opted by far-right groups who violently oppose Angela Merkel’s open border policies.