We usually look down on people who destroy others' work, but we'll let Irmela Mensah-Schramm slide. Armed with spray-paint and a scraper, she's spending her retirement hunting down Neo-Nazi graffiti in Berlin and defacing it beyond recognition. She's been at it for 25 years, and has now told her story to Italian filmmakers Vincenzo Caruso and Fabrizio Lussu for their upcoming documentary, The Hate Destroyer.
Even though her work is destructive, it would be wrong to say nothing's created in the process. By letting Berliners walk through their streets without having to look at Neo-Nazi slogans and symbols, she's made a more mature city, one more capable of self-reflection and even self-censorship. Mensah-Schramm has endowed Berlin with the same indignant attitude she feels for the Nazi-nostalgics; she couldn't do more if she'd gone and put up her own graffiti.
THE HATE DESTROYER
