Germany detains alleged neo-Nazis who are planning an uprising

Eight alleged members of a neo-Nazi militant cell that was motivated by conspiracy theories and racial ideology and had been trained in combat for the overthrow of the contemporary German state were taken into custody by German police on Tuesday, according to prosecutors.

The 450-person police operation to disband the gang, which prosecutors have termed “Saechsische Separatisten” or Saxony Separatists (abbreviated SS, the same as the Nazi party’s elite force), coincided with the announcement of the arrests.

In a statement, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said, “Our security authorities have thus thwarted at an early stage militant coup plans by right-wing terrorists, who were longing for a Day X to attack people and our state with armed force.”

According to media sources, one of the suspects was associated with the nationalist Alternative for Germany (AfD), which has up to 18% of the vote nationwide, second only to the center-right opposition. However, the party denied any affiliation with the gang.

In the last few years, Germany has discovered two coup plots.

In a case that stunned Germany with its intricate network and preparation, authorities in 2022 discovered the “Reichsbuerger” movement, which was headed by a would-be prince who wanted to topple the government and appoint a caretaker government.

According to a statement from the federal prosecutor’s office, the group that was the target of Tuesday’s operation was established no later than November 2020.

“It is a militant group of 15 to 20 individuals whose ideology is characterized by racist, anti-Semitic and partially apocalyptic ideas,” said the statement.

According to authorities, the gang had been preparing to use force to impose a new system in the country’s east, inspired by Nazism, since they believed that Germany was on the verge of collapse and that the fall of the government was predicted for an unspecified “Day X.”

“If necessary, unwanted groups of people are supposed to be removed from the area by means of ethnic cleansing,” claimed the statement.

Military Instruction

In the Polish border town of Zgorzelec, the accused ringleader and founding member, Joerg S., 23, was apprehended by German and Polish officials.

In eastern Germany, the towns of Meissen and Leipzig, as well as the surrounding areas of Dresden, the other seven were taken into custody.

The defendants may face charges of involvement in a domestic terrorist organization, sometimes under juvenile legislation, after prosecutors claimed they had practiced urban warfare and purchased fatigues and bulletproof vests.

Kurt Haettasch, an AfD lawmaker in the eastern state of Saxony, where the party nearly won a state election in September, was one of the suspects, according to Spiegel Online.

According to the town’s website, he was elected to the council in Grimma, which is close to Leipzig. Spiegel added that since October, he has served as treasurer of the AfD youth group “Junge Alternative” in Saxony.

Germany’s domestic intelligence agency has designated the AfD’s youth section as an extremist organization and is keeping an eye on the party nationwide for any indications of extremism.

An AfD spokesperson stated that the party had “nothing in common” with the Saxony Separatists and that “our party stands firmly on the ground of a free and democratic basic order.”

The Spiegel reported that Haettasch was one of the suspects, but the AfD stated it was unable to verify this.

An officer fired two warning shots when the local lawmaker brandished a gun during the police operation, according to a Handelsblatt newspaper that cited security sources. It was reported that Haettasch had a fractured jaw.

The public prosecutor’s spokesperson acknowledged that there had been an injury and stated that the incident was being looked into.