Germany bans ‘cult-like, racist’ far-right group

German investigators carried out raids across the country on Wednesday as Berlin banned a far-right group it described as a “cult-like, deeply racist and anti-Semitic association” that sought to indoctrinate children with Nazi ideology.

Police stormed 26 apartments belonging to 39 members of the Artgemeinschaft network in 12 states, including Bavaria, Baden-Wuerttemberg and Brandenburg.

The association counts about 150 members and has links to several far-right groups, said the interior ministry.

It uses the cover of a “pseudo-religious Germanic belief in God to spread their worldview, which violates human dignity,” said the ministry.

Using Nazi-era literature, the association sought to convert the young to adopt its race theories.

It also ran an online bookstore that sought to radicalise and attract non-members.

“This is a further blow against right-wing extremism and against the intellectual agitators who still spread Nazi ideologies today,” said Interior Minister Nancy Faeser.

“This far-right group tried to raise new enemies of the constitution through the disgusting indoctrination of children and youths,” she added.

Germany has banned a series of right-wing extremist groups in recent months.

Last week, it outlawed the local chapter of the US-based Hammerskins neo-Nazi group known for its white supremacist rock concerts.

There were some 38,800 people in the right-wing extremist spectrum in Germany in 2022, according to a report presented by the BfV federal domestic intelligence agency in June, up from 33,900 in 2021.

The number considered potentially violent also rose from 13,500 to 14,000.