Germany bans far-right esoteric 'Artgemeinschaft' for 'indoctrination of children' DW News

Germany's Interior Ministry on Wednesday said it had banned a far-right group known for indoctrinating children as police carried out a series of raids. The ministry said the group had used a pseudo-religious belief in Germanic gods to spread Nazi ideology within families.

A statement from the German Interior Ministry said it banned the Artgemeinschaft group, which it said was an anti-democratic association with around 150 members. Police raided 26 apartments in 12 of Germany's 16 states to target 39 members of the network. The ministry outlined the ban against the group and its offshoots, describing it as a "cult-like, deeply racist and antisemitic association" that sought to indoctrinate children with far-right thinking. "This is a further blow against right-wing extremism and against the intellectual agitators who still spread Nazi ideologies today," Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said. "This far-right group tried to raise new