On November 9, 2020, Junge Tat (JT) published a video on their Telegram channel. The video showed young men practicing martial arts, lifting weights, reading books from the old and the new right, training in paramilitary survival techniques and hiking through mountains and forests. In the video, the young men unfurl a banner with the name of their group and set off fireworks.
A few weeks later on, December 17, 2020, Junge Revolution (JR) published a video on their Telegram channel. In their video, young men belonging to the JR offshoot Nord Württemberg Sturm (NWS) walk through the grounds of a train station, through an underpass and into a parking garage. The men then unfurl a banner bearing the racist slogan “Migration tötet!” (English: “Migration kills!”) and set off fireworks.
Junge Revolution and Junge Tat
In 2019, Sanny Kujath, formerly a member of the far-right party Der Dritte Weg, founded Junge Revolution. As part of a “media project”, he interviewed members of numerous neo-Nazi groups and other far-right organisations. During this period, Kujath relocated from Zwick (Saxony) to Kloster Veßra (Thuringia). In 2020, the JR developed into a group that combines martial arts, singing and hiking. At the same time, it expanded. In the middle of 2020 a regional offshoot in southern Germany, Nord Württemberg Sturm, was founded.
In contrast to the JR, Junge Tat emerged from the structure of already-existing groups. According to antifascist research, the new group is an “adapted continuation” of two groups, Eisenjugend Schweiz (English: Iron Youth Switzerland) and the Nationalistische Jugend Schweiz (English: Nationalist Youth Switzerland). Manuel Corchia led both groups. After three house searches in the cantons of Schwyz and Zurich and the confiscation of several assault rifles and pistols, some neo-Nazis continued their activities in the JT, which belongs to the Nationalen Aktionsfront (in English: National Action Front).
Identity and image
In the videos from both groups, the neo-Nazis covered their faces. The JR/NWS members wore masks, and the JT members wore matching green balaclavas with a white Tyr rune. The rune, also used by the Hitler Youth and the Sturmabteilung (SA), symbolises action and war.
The JT present a lofty self-image in the description of their video: “Young people who dream of time-honoured values and virtues and who live according to these timeless principles come together in the Junge Tat!” The JR echoed the pathos of the Swiss group in their video: “Only with a disciplined spirit can you master this fight! […] Take to the streets and be a part of the Junge Revolution!”
The music of the far-right rapper Komplott (aka Patrick Uli Bass) soundtracked both videos. Komplott was the first rapper to emerge from the ranks of the Identitäre Bewegung (English: Identitarian Movement). He has since withdrawn from the new-right music scene. The JR used the 2017 track “Kaputt”, while the JT used 2018’s “Ehre über Ruhm”. In the staging of both groups, the martial messages of the tracks play a decisive role. They conjure up an cast-iron, brave community and propagate steadfastness and fortitude: “We were the youth that stands up, goes out, raises its fist / Even if they beat us green and blue”.
Two groups, one network
After the JT released its first video clip, a second followed on November 28, 2020, then a third on November 30, 2020 and a fourth on December 12, 2020. The clips glorify “ancestors”, present a mystic view of nature, and demonise the consumption of public media. A fifth clip was announced on January 19, 2021, but failed to materialise.
A day later, the Neue Zürcher Zeitung reported that five men were arrested in the canton of Zurich and one man in the canton of Lucerne. The public prosecutor’s office is conducting criminal proceedings for incitement of hatred and discrimination. Several weapons were seized during the house searches. The six men, aged 18 to 20, “basically confessed” (NZZ) and were released from custody on January 22, 2021. The raids were allegedly connected to the sabotage of an online event from the Jewish Liberal Community of the City of Zurich. On January 17, 2021, hooded individuals disrupted the event, showing antisemitic and pornographic content.
The JT uses the same distribution structures as the JR. The online shop “Versand der deutschen Jugend“ (VDDJ), which offers stickers and shirts from the JR as well as right-wing rock records and old National Socialist literature, recently began selling merchandise (stickers, shirts, balaclavas) from the Swiss neo-Nazis. The VDDJ is headquartered in the “Goldener Löwe” pub (Kloster Veßra/Thuringia), which is owned by the neo-Nazi Tommy Frenck. Sanny Kujath runs the imprint. embers of the JR and the JT appear to maintain a lively connection. In August 2020, the heads of the JR were invited to the Swiss mountains for hiking and martial arts. Photos show Kujath and NWS leader Marc Rohrbacher in front of a mountain lake and in a mountain hut in Oberiberg in the canton of Schwyz. The NWS shared the picture on Instagram, captioned “Another successful trip to the mountains.”
Translated by W.F. Thomas.
