Part of everyday life
BIELEFELD (Own Report) German neo-nazis conduct armed military exercises in the Czech Republic as well as in Slovakia and present themselves as ,,Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler"(military SS division Adolf Hitler). According to recent police reports, the equipment of the group of approximately 80 persons includes machine guns and explosives suitable for making bombs. The members of the armed nazi (National Socialist - NS) successor organization are active throughout Germany (North Rhine Westphalia, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania) and are connected with diverse nationalist organizations. The leader of the NS-group has been known to criminal prosecutors since the 1990s. At that time he worked as a hired informant for the internal secret service of the federal republic (Verfassungsschutz/VS). Current foreign activities of the NS provocateur are under the jurisdiction of the Bundesnachrichtendienst (federal intelligence service or BND). The foreign activities of German rightwing extremists are accompanied by neo-nazi terrorist activities in the federal republic. Broad circles of the political establishment are now prepared to adopt positions which, previously, had been considered rightwing extreme.
According to police in western Germany's Bielefeld, the authorities conducted searches in the homes of several armed members of a ,,European theater club for living history." 1)The club, in Bad Oeynhausen which is close to Bielefeld, regularly performs ,,simulations"of NS combat actions in Czech and Slovak territories, using an estate in the Czech Republic. Approximately 80 members of the club, of which ,,only about 30"are ,,holding national socialist ideas,"according to the authorities, appear in SS uniforms and carry heavy weapons (MG 42). The activity of the new ,,Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler"does not seem to have been noticed in the neighboring countries or has been accepted there.
Toleration
The leader of the group who, according to the local press, had ,,worked"for the Verfassungsschutz (VS or constitutional protection) in 1993 2), had organized war games for militant neo-nazis near Bielefeld in the 1990s. At that time already, weapons and SS uniforms were found among numerous rightwing extremists who called themselves ,,Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler."Another group ,,Heimatschutzcorps Ostwestfalen"(homeland security corps East Westphalia) trained in military combat. According to local observers, neo-nazis from the Bielefeld area, ,,again and again,"conducted such war games. This conforms to the practice of neo-nazi groups throughout the federal territory who pattern their field exercises ( ,,military sport") after corresponding models from the 1920s and 1930s (NSDAP, SA). 3)New is the expansion of these activities into the formerly occupied East European states in which Berlin's foreign intelligence service (BND) is active. Evidently, the BND is unable to prevent these NS (nazi) activities by reporting them to its foreign partner services or the BND is tolerant because of foreign policy reasons.
State sponsored foreign control
The secret service activities of the right-wing extremist who has been arrested for illegal possession of arms confirms the observations by observers who have noticed a massive presence of state ,,agents"in neo-nazi organizations. Last year proceedings against the Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands (NPD or national democratic party of Germany) of Germany failed because the Federal Supreme Court could, due to the high number of secret infiltrators even among the leadership of the party, not eliminate ,,possible entrapment of the NPD by the state."The NPD was surprisingly successful in the recent elections in Saxony and several rightwing extremists are representing the State of Brandenburg since October of 2004.
No shying away
The willingness to accept the positions which until recently had been considered as right-wing extreme increased after the successful state elections in Dresden and Potsdam. As late as September, the president of the Bundesverband der Deutschen Industrie (BDI - league of German industry), Michael Rogowski, saw no reason to ,,emphasize"the presence of neo-fascist parties in German state parliaments. 4)During the election for the head of state of Saxony in early November, several representatives imputed to be part of the loyal spectrum of the state, voted for the candidate of the extreme nationalist NPD. Just recently, the interior minister of Brandenburg, Joerg Schoenbohm (Christian Democratic Union), explained concerning foreign policy demands of a right-wing extreme organization, thus: ,,A part of them have certainly become part of the common heritage in the meantime." 5)Mr. Schoenbohm said: ,,We should not shy away from national rhetoric"pointing out the election successes of the neo-fascist parties in Germany. 6)
1) Gemeinsame Presseerklaerung von Staatsanwaltschaft und Polizei. Waffenfund bei zwei Rechtsextremisten in Bad Oeynhausen, 26.11.2004
2) Kriegswaffen nach Razzia sichergestellt; Neue Westfaelische Bad Oeynhausen 27.11.2004
3) Wehrsport in westfaelischen Waeldern; www.antifa-west.org
4) Rogowski mehr über PDS als über NPD und DVU besorgt; Freie Presse 24.09.2004
5) ,,Wir müssen uns zur Nation bekennen". Berliner Zeitung 24.11.2004
6) Neuer Streit um deutsche Leitkultur; Spiegel online 20.11.2004
