Worthing's racist shame

Christiane Schanz, 22, from Rottenburg, Germany, has visited England several times and is currently on a work placement with the Herald.

She was shocked to experience racism while

travelling by train from Southampton to Angmering at 5.30pm on a Saturday afternoon.

Christine said that five men, aged between 25 and 30, walked down the packed train and sat and stood around her.

She said: "They were all very drunk and smelled of alcohol."

One of the men began to ask Christiane questions about where she lived.

"I said that I originally came from Germany but was living in Ferring.

"His friend started to say 'Adolf Hitler' and make horrible hand gestures towards me. His friends laughed and I told him to stop because it wasn't funny. They were comparing me to Hitler because I am German."

She said that other passengers on the train, including a man sitting directly opposite her, sat and laughed. "I think most of them thought it was quite funny."

Christiane said that the experience, which lasted for half an-hour, was intimidating and she was shocked that nobody intervened.

"I think in Germany there would be at least one person who would come and help me."

Sadly, Christiane's experience is not isolated.

Three weeks ago Uta Boellinger, who is originally from Germany but has lived in Worthing for the past three years, wrote a column in the Herald about her flatmate's experiences in the town.

The girl, a German born in the Lebanon, was sitting on the beach with two friends when a group of around 10 teenagers started throwing stones at her.

When they asked the youths why they were throwing the stones the answer was clearly racist.

"You f****** tourists. F****** foreigners get out of our country."

The girls were told to leave before there was "real trouble".

Uta's flatmate said: "The beach was packed. There were people everywhere and it was obvious what was happening. Instead of interfering, people were quite happy to just turn away or stare when they realised what was going on."