T-shirt with the knuckle-duster and crossed baseball bat motif, but the T-shirt pinned to the front counter with a cartoon of the Pink Panther, bearing the logo "Staatsfeind", or "enemy of the state".

TUCKED DOWN a side street a few minutes' swagger from a drab, graffiti-covered bus station, the "Eastwear" clothes store in Zwickau has everything today's smartly dressed neo-Nazi-about-town could want.

As well as shirts and bomber jackets by the leisure brand Thor Steinar favourites Fred Perry and Lonsdale – there is an extensive wardrobe for those who like their tailoring with rather more attitude, from "Hooligan" brand gloves through to "Hatewear" and "Iron Fist" sweatshirts.

Last week, though, the most sinister item on show was not the T-shirt with the knuckle-duster and crossed baseball bat motif, but the T-shirt pinned to the front counter with a cartoon of the Pink Panther, bearing the logo "Staatsfeind", or "enemy of the state".

"It's just a logo, it doesn't have anything to do with neo-Nazi politics," insisted the shop assistant, who identified himself only as Thomas, when asked why he had it pinned to the front of his counter. "Eighty per cent of our customers are just normal people anyway, and besides, real neo-Nazis wouldn't buy clothes here – they'd want to stay undetected."

So why, then, did he anxiously whisk the T-shirt from the display and hide it behind the counter? An obvious clue can be found by visiting a quiet suburban street on the far side of Zwickau, where two weeks ago, a grisly chain of events proved that "real" neo-Nazis do indeed go for more than just fashion statements.

Posted in: Germany's answer to the British skinhead