Neo-Nazi Tweens? Inside Germany’s Growing Far-Right Youth Movement
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BERLIN — It’s a Friday evening in September 2024, and Julian M and his six friends don’t waste any time. When they spot Raphael K coming out of a supermarket in the Berlin district of Marzahn, and see him wearing a rainbow ribbon on his arm, the group of youths start yelling “faggot,” and ask: “Why don’t you stand with Germany?”
Then one of them punches Raphael in the face, twice in the temple, and forces him to take off his T-shirt with the slogan “Anti-Fascist Action.” Later, the attackers flee the scene laughing, posting a photo of their “trophy” on Instagram.
That’s how Raphael K recounts the events to Die Zeit, which matches exactly with how investigators from the Berlin State Criminal Police reconstructed the attack.
The Berlin youth was targeted by a new neo-Nazi group called “Deutsche Jugend Voran” (DJV), a far-right gang of young people. Their mission: to intimidate political opponents and claim the streets of East Berlin.
The DJV is led by Julian M., a 24-year-old sporting goods salesman. In early April, he appeared in a glass dock at the Berlin Regional Court. He wore a black shirt, New Balance sneakers, and had his hair slicked back. For this and three other attacks, he was sentenced to three years and three months in prison. The public prosecutor has appealed, so the ruling isn’t yet final.
When asked by the judge if he would distance himself from Nazi ideology and the DJV, he chews his gum and answers: “That’s my private circle of friends.” It’s only natural, he says, that he’ll keep meeting with them and attending far-right demonstrations.
Investigators say Julian M’s circle includes about 50 young men and women in Berlin. They organize in closed WhatsApp groups, attack non-right-wingers with brass knuckles and reinforced gloves, and carry gas pistols.Neo-Nazi youth cliques like this have sprung up all across Germany in the past three years. The public started noticing the trend last summer. Three then-17-year-olds stand accused of beating Matthias Ecke, an Socialist Party candidate in the European elections in Dresden, so badly while he was putting up posters that he had to be hospitalized.
Content retrieved from: https://worldcrunch.com/in-the-news/neo-nazi-tweens-inside-germany-s-growing-far-right-youth-movement/.
