German police are conducting dozens of searches across the country on Wednesday morning against a far-right group accused of spreading Nazi ideology through sectarian and xenophobic pagan beliefs.
The headquarters of the "Artgemeinschaft" or "Germanic Faith Community for the Essential Conception of Life" group and the homes of 39 members of the group are being searched in twelve states (Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Brandenburg, Hesse, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein and Thuringia), while the German Minister of the Interior announced the dissolution of the association and its Ramifications.
"This is yet another blow to right-wing extremism and arsonist intellectuals who continue to propagate Nazi ideologies to this day," Faeser said in a statement.
Innenministerin #Faeser verbietet "Die #Artgemeinschaft – Germanische Glaubens-Gemeinschaft wesensgemäßer Lebensgestaltung e. V." einschl. go Teilorganisationen. Einsatzkräfte durchsuchen aktuell 26 Wohnungen von 39 Vereinsmitgliedern und Vereinsräume in zwölf Bundesländern.
— Bundesministerium des Innern und für Heimat (@BMI_Bund) September 27, 2023
The group, founded in 1951, now made up of about 150 members, "tries to manufacture new enemies of the Constitution through a repugnant indoctrination of children and young people", using literature from the Nazi era that has barely changed. The Bible of the community, called the "Moral Law," "commands bravery and courage in all situations, boldness and defensiveness to the point of mortal contempt against every enemy of the family, clan, country, people, Germanic way, and Germanic faith."
Transmitting "correct genetic material"
The ban also targets offshoots of the Artgemeinschaft, whose members are called upon to "choose their spouse" within the "human species" of northern and central Europe in order to transmit the "correct genetic material," the statement said. The "Familienwerk", a club for large and very large families, was also involved, as was a magazine propagating his National Socialist ideas. According to the German press, neo-Nazi Stephan Ernst, convicted of murdering an elected official who defended migrants, Walter Lübcke, was a member of this traditionalist community.
In recent years, anti-Semitic acts, a resurgence of Germany's Nazi past, have multiplied throughout the country. A week ago, unknown assailants desecrated more than 40 Jewish graves in the cemetery of a city in the east of the country. German authorities also banned another neo-Nazi group, "Hammerskins Deutschland," which has roots in the United States, and raided the homes of 28 members after an investigation of more than a year in cooperation with U.S. authorities.
According to the Ministry of the Interior, the "Artgemeinschaft" gave their ideological base to other far-right organizations, including the "Sturm-/Wolfsbrigade 44" and the "Heimattreuen Deutsche Jugend eV", which had already been banned.
