Authorities in the German capital Berlin have proscribed a group said to be the fastest growing neo-Nazi organization in the city.
Frontbann 24, the name was originally used by the SA , or
stormtroopers, during the 1920s when the German state of Bavaria had implemented a ban on the Nazi party and any associated group, reportedly only has 40, possibly 60, members but there are fears that it was rapidly gaining new members.
On Thursday dawn raids were carried out on the homes of Frontbann 24's leaders, although no arrests were made.
Sky News reports that members of the neo-Nazi group wore black shirts, although the SA was known for its wearing of brown shirts, the SS being the organization that wore black shirts, with
AFP quoting a statement from the Berlin authorities which said that the shirts had "the imperial eagle, a laurel wreath, the Frontbann logo and the number '24' on the collar".
Immigrants and Jews have been the target of literature produced by Frontbann 24, with the authorities in Berlin also noting that the group has adopted "goals and actions" that are "directed in a combative and aggressive way against existing political institutions and politicians".
Ehrhart Koerting, Interior Minister for Berlin, has said of the action taken by the authorities:
The ban should be seen in the context of a decisive fight against far-right efforts in Germany and as an important step towards protecting our free and democratic constitutional order
One other reminder in recent weeks of the threat posed by the far-right in Germany was the charging of three people with offenses relating to the establishment of camps similar to those attended by members of the Hitler Youth movement. Whilst at the modern-day camps children would be dressed in uniforms, taught about the racial theory espoused by those on the far-right, and exposed to Nazi propaganda.
With no seats in the national parliament, although it is represented in two of the regional assemblies in Germany, and the recipient of just 2 percent of the vote in the recent national elections, the
National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD) may appear to be relatively insignificant. Indeed the party is facing bankruptcy.
But its far-right agenda has led many mainstream German politicians to call for the NPD, its leader since 1996 has been Udo Voigt, to also be banned.
In November 2008 Jürgen Gansel, a deputy in the Saxony state legislature for the NPD, attacked the victory of Barack Obama in the U.S. Presidential election. The
Local reported at the time that Gansel issued a statement, with the title "Africa conquers the White House", in which he spoke of "the American alliance of Jews and Negroes" that had swept President Obama to victory and lamented the newly elected President's popularity in Germany. Furthermore Gansel's statement said:
A non-white America is a declaration of war on all people who believe an organically grown social order based on language and culture, history and heritage to be the essence of humanity. Barack Obama hides this declaration of war behind his pushy sunshine smile
NPD leader Udo Voigt has also met and been pictured with white nationalist politicians such as the former Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, David Duke.
