There is a tendency to see gang activity as a purely American phenomenon. To be sure, youth gangs have been reported in many countries and their origins can be traced back to early Europe (Mihailoff). An example is the rebirth of the Nazi youth movement and the counteroffensive of those who bear the brunt of the violence in Germany. As Germany is seeing an influx of immigration, it also has a growing problem with warfare waged by young people who see their culture under fundamental attack. Merriam-Webster defines a gang as: a group of people working together (2): a group of people working for illegal or antisocial purposes; specifically: a gang of antisocial teenagers. Youth gangs are united by common interests and are generally considered a threat to society, often carrying out illegal activities. Gangs have existed for hundreds of years in several cultures, yet many people educated about them place the emergence of modern youth gangs in the nineteenth century. Gangs and youth groups have existed since at least the Middle Ages. Accounts from 14th- and 15th-century England describe criminal gangs who robbed, extorted, and raped. Although these early gangs had characteristics associated with modern youth gangs, today's urban street gangs emerged in the United States where the social and economic pressures associated with rapid industrialization, urbanization, and immigration created an environment in which organized criminal gangs could thrive ( Mihailoff).Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, Germany has seen a revival of young people, with right-wing views, who glamorized the golden period of the Third Reich. They took names like Hitler Youth and SS-East. Then, as now, they... center of paper...ernstein, Richard. "A Bold New Vision of Turkish-German Youth - NYTimes.com." The New York Times - Breaking news, world news and multimedia. Np, April 12, 2003. Web. December 3, 2013. Kershner, Isabel, and Mark Landler. "The new Hitler Youth worries Germany." New York Times. Np, May 15, 1991. Web. December 3, 2013. Lawton, Michael. "German Supreme Court reviews law on neo-Nazi gangs" DW.DE. Np, December 3, 2009. Web. December 3, 2013. Mihailoff, Laura. "Youth gangs - Encyclopedia of children and childhood in history and society". Internet FAQ Archives - Online Education - faqs.org. Np, Nov. 12, 2008. Web. Dec. 3, 2013. Phelan, Jessica. "Germany: Government agrees to compensate victims of neo-Nazi gangs." GlobalPost. Np, November 20, 2011. Web. December 3, 2013. Vasagar, Jeevan. “The Secret Life of the Nazi Woman Behind the Kebab Murders in Germany.” Np, 25 August 2013. Web. 3 December. 2013.