GETTY There has been a rise in neo-Nazism in Germany

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Police in the besieged nation have been confronted with its worst period of violence and civil unrest since the days of Hitler's Nazis as anger over Angela Merkel's open door policy reaches boiling point. The spectre of the 1930's Third Reich brown shirts looms large as far right protestors are openly conducting running battles in the street targeting refugees - as well as journalists and politicians who support their cause - in brutal attacks.

Moderate politicians have been drowned out at rallies and one was even stabbed in the throat by a neo-Nazi madman, leading a top German magazine to declare: "The hate is back." Security sources in Germany, which has taken in more migrants and refugees than any other European country, say they have seen a sharp rise in violence linked to right-wing extremism in recent weeks.

GETTY Germans are angry at Angela Merkel's open door migration policy

GETTY Germany is expected to take in 1.5 million migrants in 2015

The worst attack happened on October 17 when liberal politician Henriette Reker was stabbed by a neo-Nazi protestor whilst out on the campaign trail in Cologne. Right-wing groups have also depicted prominent Germany politicians being hanged in public gallows in twisted propaganda material. It led respected German news magazine Der Spiegel to ask: "Does this threaten a relapse to the time of the Weimar Republic when violent political confrontations were commonplace?" The publication was referring to the political chaos which engulfed Germany in the aftermath of the First World War, eventually leading to the rise of fascism and Hitler.

GETTY Protesters from far-right group Pegida march through Dresden

The hate is back Der Spiegel

Elsewhere gangs of male neo-Nazis have formed "lynch mobs" to track down migrants and hand out horrific beatings in the street in the last few days. On Friday in Pirna, near Dresden, a Morrocan and a Libyan man were set upon by a gang of 25 neo-Nazis and badly beaten. Over the weekend gangs also battered Syrians with baseball bats in separate incidents in the northern city of Wismar and Magdeburg, outside Berlin. Also at the weekend a mob returned to Freital, in eastern Germany, and threw a firework through the window of a refugee safe house, causing glass shards to fly into the face of a 26-year-old Syrian man.

The small town was the scene of a shocking murder plot earlier this year, when right-wing fanatics tried to blow up the car of a left-wing politician. In recent weeks police have seized complicated explosives from right-wing groups which could have been used to carry out a major terrorist attack. Journalists have been attacked at far-right rallies and aid workers prevented from carrying food and supplies to refugees.

GETTY Migrants arrive by coach in the German village Sumte

GETTY Migrants receive a medical check-up after arriving in Sumte

The revelations come after residents of a rural village in east Germany spoke of their anger at the arrival of 750 migrants on their doorstep. Villagers in sleepy Sumte are bracing themselves for a crimewave after a vast refugee camp was set up in disused government offices nearby. Germany expects to take in up to 1.5 million migrants in 2015 alone, many of whom are fleeing war-torn Middle Eastern countries including Syria.