Germany’s government has banned the neo-Nazi group ‘Heimattreue Deutsche Jugend’ (HDJ) for spreading anti-Semitic and anti-immigrant ideology reminiscent of racist teachings prevalent under the Nazis. The organization posed a threat to Germany’s democratic order, the Federal Interior Ministry said. German authorities carried out raids on HDJ leaders in the several eastern German states. “We are ending the loathsome machinations of the HDJ with today’s ban,” interior minister Wolfgang Schäuble said in a statement. “We will do everything to protect our children and youngsters from those who want to lure them away.” Under the guise of activities such as summer camps and outings, the HDJ treated young people to song lyrics and lessons in German racial purity and the “threat” posed by immigrants and Jews, the Ministry said.
In August, police uncovered swastikas, black-clad youngsters and extremist lyrics during a raid on one of the HDJ’s camping sites in the Baltic coast state of Mecklenburg- Western Pomerania. Among the campers were 39 children age 8 to 14, many wearing uniforms and carrying Nazi literature. “There was a regimented camp routine complete with flag- hoisting, in which behavior and living conditions were exercised as in the time of National Socialism,” according to a police report on the raid. Police ordered the camp closed and sent the children, who came from all over Germany, back to their parents. The HDJ, which translates as the Patriotic German Youth, was a successor organization to a banned extremist group, the Viking Youth.
