MORE THAN 35,000 OPPOSED THE FOUNDING CONFERENCE OF AFD YOUTH PARTY ~ Josie Ó Súileabháin ~ Tens of thousands of people arrived in Gießen, Germany as part of a united front against the formation of a far-right youth party, relaunched by the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) on 29 November. Political actions organised by the antifascist alliance Widersetzen saw multiple highways and roads in the district of Hessen blocked by activists. Photo: Wiederzetzen Around 800 people attended the launch of the youth party Generation Deutschland, an event that was postponed for more than two hours as a result of anti-fascists’ disruption. German police responded with heavy repression including pepper spray, rushing protesters with baton charges, and water cannons from police tanks, causing multiple injuries. Photo: Mouafak Mahmalji “Thank you for standing firm despite the massive police violence,” Widersetzen said after the event. “The scale is shocking and aligns with the decisions of the city of Gießen. Anyone who tries by all means to ban protest is willingly doing the dirty work for fascism.” This was the AfD’s second attempt to launch a youth party, after its predecessor Junge Alternative (JA) became uncontrollable, was classified as an extremist organisation by domestic intelligence and disbanded by its parent party last March. With Generation Deutschland, membership in the parent party is now mandatory and the AfD is hoping it can keep it in line. Photo: Wiederzetzen However, the current reboot appears to follow directly in the former youth party’s tragic fascist footsteps with the election of Jean-Pascal Hohm as chairman, himself classified as a right-wing extremist. “Germany is not lost yet,” he said after becoming the leader. “We will argue decisively, for a real migration turnaround that ensures that Germany remains the country and the homeland of the Germans.” Hohm himself has previously been part of the far-right Identitarian Movement and Pegida, as well as a proponent of conspiracy theories including ‘population exchange’ and the resistance the medical-led preventions of Covid-19. Photo: Mouafak Mahmalji The last elections in Germany saw the AfD gain 20.8% of the total vote and it is now the second largest part in Germany, gaining more than 69 seats, and surpassing the power of the former government run by Social Democrat Party (SPD) for the first time in its history. This was seen widely as a political disaster, considering the leading Christian Democrat Union (CDU) have become increasingly extreme. This was shown in January, after a lethal stabbing committed by Enamullah Omarzai, an Afghan asylum seeker with untreated schizophrenia. Before the investigation had begun, CDU and AfD joined forces for the first time to pass legislation stopping arrivals of all refugees on Germany’s borders. In contrast, those who requested to the court that Enamullah receive psychiatric support instead of imprisonment were those who survived his attack. What ‘generation Antifa’ have proved on the streets of Gießen is that the youth are not so easily manipulated to fight a cause only beneficial to billionaires. “It continues,” Widersetzen writes in the aftermath, “because today was not the first day: we struggle in everyday life and remain uncomfortable. We have the hope that the new AfD youth can count on our protests.” -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Top photo: Mouafak Mahmalji The post Clashes at “Generation Deutschland” blockades appeared first on Freedom News.

“SEVERAL INCENDIARY DEVICES LED TO THE COMPLETE DESTRUCTION OF THE CASTLE”, CLAIMED LETTER—POLICE INVESTIGATING ~ from Contre-Attaque ~ “On the night of October 5-6, at 11:30 p.m., we gained access to the Thiergarten hunting lodge near Regensburg. Several incendiary devices led to the complete destruction of the castle,” explained a German-language statement published on the anti-capitalist network Indymedia. The text claimed responsibility action against the aristocrat Gloria von Thurn und Taxis, who represents “the most reactionary networks of the ruling class.” The Thurn und Taxis noble family is one of the richest in Germany, owning the most landed estates, and numerous castles and luxurious villas throughout the country. Princess Gloria von Thurn und Taxis, a member of the Bavarian house, is a far-right activist. She is friends with Steve Bannon, the Trumpist ideologue who performed a Nazi salute earlier this year , as well as with far-right US Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, authoritarian Hungarian leader Viktor Orban, and Cardinal Müller, who is linked to the most reactionary branch of the Church, and she makes no secret of her admiration for Donald Trump and Elon Musk. On the domestic political front, Gloria von Thurn und Taxis believes that “the best solution would be for the CDU [right] to govern with the AfD [the neo-Nazi party]. The problem is that we have too many complexes about that in Germany.” A rapprochement between the traditional right and the heirs of fascism to gain power: this is exactly the strategy implemented in France by billionaires like Stérin or Bolloré. The lords of our time everywhere dream of neo-fascist regimes. Gloria Von Thurn und Taxis also proclaims her sympathy for Beatrix von Storch, another German noblewoman, granddaughter of Hitler’s finance minister and member of the Catholic-Identitarian wing of the AfD. The far-right princess, who was known in her youth for her partying and wild evenings, now advocates a strict patriarchy: “It is interesting for us women to stay at home,” she declares, while calling for the abolition of abortion, which she considers “murder,” and believes that same-sex marriage is an “attack on the traditional family.” As early as 2001, Gloria von Thurn und Taxis shocked people after declaring on television that the high rate of AIDS in Africa was explained by the heat and the fact that “Black people really like to f***.” A few months ago, protesters hung from the trees of one of the aristocrat’s properties, chanting: “No place for Thurn und Taxis!” while demanding the family’s expropriation. This time, it was one of his palaces that burned. The building, which had served as a golf course and housed a gourmet restaurant since the 1970s, was completely destroyed, and the damage was estimated at several million euros. Responsibility for the fire came from a group called “Kommando Georg Elser,” the name of a communist resistance fighter who attempted to eliminate Hitler and senior officials in 1939. Unfortunately, the Nazis had left the stage earlier than planned, and the bomb exploded too late. This resistance fighter was deported and executed in 1945. The claim states that it is intended to send a “warning” to Gloria von Thurn und Taxis, whom it describes as a “big capitalist” with ties to far-right circles. The text also accuses the pavilion of having housed an agency involved in Nazi crimes during World War II. Police have not yet certified the authenticity of the text. In Germany, the far right is making a meteoric rise in the elections . Last February, the AfD came in second in the legislative elections, behind the right, and obtained nearly 20% of the vote. The party doubled its score in the previous elections, benefiting from the strong support of Elon Musk and a collapse of social democracy. At the same time, the ruling right is in the process of re-militarising Germany at a rapid pace, releasing colossal sums to make the Bundeswehr the “first army in Europe” and rehabilitating ceremonies honouring former German soldiers… -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Machine translation; Update: there have been questions about the authenticity of the letter. The indymedia post, quoted in the source article, has apparently been removed. The post Germany: ‘Anti-fascists’ claim responsibility for burning down far-right aristocrat’s castle appeared first on Freedom News.

THE COUNTRY IS SLOWLY DRIFTING INTO THE HANDS OF THE EXTREME RIGHT, REPEATING THE STEPS THAT BROUGHT ADOLF HITLER TO POWER ~ Nikita Ivansky ~ There is a certain feeling of despair when you talk to German antifascists or anarchists these days. The elections of 2025 were heavily influenced by the agenda pushed by the extreme right—migration, social benefits, and ‘peace’ with Russia. Only a few politicians actually tried to bring some political content to this discussion. The ruling Social Democrats (SPD) seemed to be trying to move further to the right and away from any social-democratic policies. Despite all these efforts, Olaf Scholz lost to his counterpart from the Christian Democrats (CDU), Friedrich Merz, a rich banker, Merkel’s former runner-up and soon the new Chancellor of Germany. The far right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is now the second-largest party. A few days before the election victory, during his speech in Munich, Merz said “There is no more ‘left’ in Germany. We rule now”. And although the CDU is still unlikely to allow the AfD into government, the new government’s political direction will follow the wind of right-wing populism. And although Merz promised “independence” from Washington, the German economy is still heavily dependent on trade with the US and the government will hesitate to confront Trump.  The reactionary policies of the SPD/Green/FDP coalition have already made headlines in major progressive newspapers. It was under an SPD Chancellor that Germany closed its borders to Schengen and now controls arrivals by land. Deportations of migrants and repression of their supporters and environmental activists reached new heights. And, in cooperation with authoritarian states, the German police continued to repress anti-fascist and anti-authoritarian movements. All this was done in an attempt to conquer the information space away from the extreme right. It is almost a miracle that the coalition fell apart before passing a new security law that would have set a new low for the freedoms of citizens and non-citizens living in the country. Image: Wikimedia Commons It is very clear that all of this is going to expand under Merz. Yet, attempts by right-wing politicians to become a new strongman within the EU have systematically failed. Macron’s power play made him a meme among political elites and a very hated personality among ordinary people in France. If Merz tries to destroy the welfare state, he can very quickly become the Macron of Germany. And just like Macron, the new chancellor can pave the way for the rise of the extreme right. The CDU’s desperate attempts to remain relevant under pressure from extreme right risk not only to bring cooperation with AfD, but also to move ruling parties further into camp of extreme right politics.  The lack of a consolidated response to the rise of fascism in Germany repeats the scenario of the past, with political parties playing directly into the hands of the extreme right. With this realisation, the liberals and moderate centre-left have no strategy for approaching the current situation. The strong belief in representative democracy threatens to destroy liberal,s while grassroots organising, crippled by the work of NGOs, seem to have too little political power to bring about change.  The hopeful attitude created by the gains of the Left Party can be poisoned very quickly, taking into account that there are a lot of reactionary forces within it, which, for example, would prevent support to Ukraine in favour of further work with Putin. But what is certain is that the times to come will put a lot of pressure on any progressive forces in Germany. It is unclear whether the left and anarchists are ready for this challenge. The post German elections: On the way to a new Reich? appeared first on Freedom News.

WE’RE JOINED BY LEGAL EAGLE ANDY MEINKE TO TALK ABOUT THE NEWS OF THE WEEK, AND MUSE UPON WHAT WORK THE ANARCHIST MOVEMENT CAN BE DOING TO REBUILD OUR STRENGTH IN THE FACE OF DOWNHEARTENING EVENTS. Derry Radical Bookfair having recently had a successful outing, we talk about the state of radical bookfairs more generally, before moving on to the limits of legalism in moving things greenwards, how AfD is gaining ground in Germany, Saturday’s Tommy Robinson march, plus the collapse of USAID and the future for imperial soft power. The post Anarchist News Review: Bookfairs, Climate protest, Far right in Germany and UK appeared first on Freedom News.