I want to believe the majority of Germans do not support the AfD but history proves faith in people's 'goodness' too often results in disastrous consequences. The anti-AfD rallies in Germany have been inspiring, but these people have to continue non-violent social opposition to the AfD and must mobilize the German electorate to vote in all elections to prevent the AfD of achieving ruling power and authority. Thank you Frontline for this expose, hopefully the American electorate will pay attention and vote for freedom and democracy and reject project 2025 and the drumpf / trump-vance campaign.
Germany's Enemy Within (full documentary) | FRONTLINE
>> There are concerns about the scale and extent of extremism.
>> NARRATOR: Correspondent Evan William investigates the rise of the far right in Germany.
>> People think you are restricting the press.
They will deport people.
>> (in German): >> NARRATOR: And the fight against it.
>>We consider right-wing extremism to be the most serious and threatening danger we currently face.
>> NARRATOR: Now on FRONTLINE: “Germany’s Enemy Within.”
>> They were very dangerous, they were very well prepared.
We are not talking about any amateur warriors here.
We are talking about people who are actually trained in the use of weapons.
>> EVAN WILLIAMS: In the fall of 2022, German intelligence chiefs secretly monitored a suspected right-wing extremist plot to overthrow the government.
>> (in German): >> WILLIAMS: The surveillance operation focused on a wealthy German aristocrat, Heinrich Reuss, who was considered one of the ringleaders.
>> We followed him very closely to wait for the right moment before they could do what they wanted to do, but at the same time we had enough to do to file criminal charges against them.
>> WILLIAMS: But according to German intelligence, Reuss kept postponing his plans at the last minute for some bizarre reason.
>> He had some spiritual guides who were looking for the stars and the right connection to start their whole maneuvers.
Probably three or four times when they were getting ready to go, they said something like, "Oh, the stars aren't right today."
So we need to calm down and start over.
And we just got really nervous because it's always going up and down and you have to take all the countermeasures.
We took them out on the third or fourth mission.
>> (speaking in the background) >> German authorities have foiled an alleged plot to violently overthrow the government in Berlin.
>> 25 people, including a soldier and a judge, were arrested after police... >> WILLIAMS: After months of surveillance, around 3,000 police officers and German special forces carried out a series of coordinated dawn raids in 11 federal states.
>> These arrests are remarkable evidence of how powerful and dangerous right-wing extremist ideologies are all over the world.
>> It sounds like a crazy story, but the point is, it was very real and very dangerous.
And we took them out before they could do any damage.
But this is only one group that is planning such plans.
We had many others before.
>> Germany is in shock after an anti-Semitic attack on a synagogue ... >> WILLIAMS: Over the last decade, Germany has faced a wave of right-wing extremist violence and attacks on Jews, Muslims, immigrants and politicians.
>> (in German): (Applause) >> WILLIAMS: At the same time, support for the far-right party AfD, Alternative for Germany, has skyrocketed.
>> (in German): >> WILLIAMS: I came back here in 2021 when the AfD was gaining ground in parts of Germany and fears of extremist violence were growing.
(Cheers and applause) I will return in 2024 to speak to intelligence officials, victims of far-right violence and AfD politician Björn Höcke, who is on the verge of a historic election victory in eastern Germany... >> (in German): >> WILLIAMS: ...and to examine the AfD's vision for Germany, in light of allegations that the party has provoked violence.
>>If we want to live in a democracy in ten or 15 years, we must act now.
Um, there's no time to wait anymore.
♪ ♪ >> In Germany we have a principle called defensive democracy.
It stems from the ideas and experiences we had with the Nazi dictatorship.
Remember, Hitler and his Nazi NSDAP
were elected into office.
They didn't make a revolution.
The people elected the Nazis to take power.
>> WILLIAMS: Stephan Kramer is the head of the domestic intelligence service in the German state of Thuringia and is himself Jewish.
>>Okay, we have to go in there.
>> WILLIAMS: His agency was founded after World War II to monitor extremist threats to democracy.
Today he came to northern Germany to meet with city mayors and warn about the growing strength of the AfD... >> (in German): >> WILLIAMS: ...which is now the second most popular political party in the country.
>> (in German): Everyone is very concerned that our resilient democracy is on the brink of crisis. The New Right, the AfD, is acting explicitly against the principles of our federal constitution.
This is precisely a situation that, after the experiences of the years 1933 to 1945, we would never have thought would arise.
And here we are.
(in German): We have a trail of blood left by right-wing extremist terror behind us, people have been killed – terrible things – but none of this was as dangerous for our constitution, for the foundations of our society, as is the case now.
You see, the Germans did not invent anti-Semitism, but they did invent Auschwitz.
And that is something we should always keep in mind.
>> (in German): >> WILLIAMS: For almost 80 years, Germany has worked to come to terms with its Nazi history.
(Cheers and applause from the crowd) Since 2015, the island has been one of the world's leading refugee hosting destinations, taking in over a million people fleeing conflict around the world.
>> (speaking German): (drums) >> WILLIAMS: But the influx had unintended consequences.
>> (in German): >> WILLIAMS: A rise in anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim sentiment.
>> (Chants in German): >> WILLIAMS: The AfD has stoked these fears and gained millions of new supporters.
(Crowd chants in German) And Germany has been rocked by a series of right-wing extremist terrorist attacks.
In the summer of 2019, refugee politician Walter Lübcke was murdered by a neo-Nazi.
>> This is probably the first right-wing extremist political assassination attempt in Germany since the Second World War.
>> WILLIAMS: And four months later, on the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, there was more bloodshed – this time in the city of Halle.
>>A few friends traveled from Berlin to Halle, which I didn't even know exactly where it was, to celebrate Yom Kippur in a smaller community, and I was happy and curious.
>> WILLIAMS: Christina Feist, then a doctoral student, was one of about 50 Jewish worshipers in the Halle synagogue that day.
>> We had actually started reading from the Torah.
A friend of mine was sitting in front of me and I remember hearing something like a bang.
And for a split second, I remember thinking, "This is a terrorist attack, we should all get down."
(fires) >> WILLIAMS: A gunman tried to shoot his way into the synagogue.
(fires) >> A video camera was recording what was happening on the street and I was looking at the screen.
And that's actually, um... (voice trembles): That's what still really bothers me today.
I saw a person, a human being, lying on the ground outside.
And I thought, “What’s going on?
(sniffles): Is this person dead?"
(fires) >> WILLIAMS: The gunman was unable to break down the locked door, but shot two people who happened to be nearby.
(Fires) >> At least two people were killed in a shooting near a synagogue in the eastern German city of Halle.
(fires) >> WILLIAMS: The attacker, a 27-year-old named Stephan Balliet, had planned to murder everyone in the synagogue.
At his trial, a prosecutor described his plan to massacre Jews as "one of the most despicable acts of anti-Semitism in Germany since World War II."
♪ ♪ >> There are concerns about the scale, form and extent of extremism in the country.
>> WILLIAMS: When I came to Germany shortly after the attack on the synagogue, I was told that this was just the tip of the iceberg.
>> (speaks German): >> WILLIAMS: Martina Renner is a politician and anti-fascist activist and sat on the Committee on Extremism in the German Bundestag.
>> (speaks German): ♪ ♪ >> WILLIAMS: Support for the extreme right is particularly strong in the state of Thuringia.
The former part of East Germany has developed into a stronghold of the AfD in recent years.
I came back here in 2021 to meet someone who was researching online extremist networks.
Hello, Catherine?
Hi, this is Evan.
>> Hello!
>> WILLIAMS: How are you?
At that time, Katharina König-Preuss, a member of the Thuringian state parliament and prominent anti-fascism activist, secretly infiltrated and monitored right-wing extremist social media groups.
OK, thanks.
Explain to me, what, what do you see?
>> Um, “Black ones, I use them as firewood.”
>> WILLIAMS: “Blacks, I’ll use them as firewood.”
>> Yes, “I use them as firewood,” and Hitler ... >> WILLIAMS: With a picture of Hitler.
>> Yes.
>> WILLIAMS: Ku Klux Klan.
>> Mmm-hmm.
>> WILLIAMS: Heil Hitler.
>>Anne-Frank.
>> WILLIAMS: Mm-hmm.
>> It is written: “The one that is fresh from the oven.”
>> WILLIAMS: “Fresh out of the oven,” above a picture of Anne Frank.
>> Yes.
>> WILLIAMS: Wow.
And you believe that thousands, possibly tens of thousands of people are sharing this material.
>> Yes.
It started with Facebook and now most groups are Telegram.
Some WhatsApp groups.
>> WILLIAMS: What kind of things are they discussing?
>> (in German): I would say that in ten to twenty groups we are talking about the terrorist attacks we had in Germany, in Halle, and about Mr. Lübcke.
They talk about whether it's okay or not okay.
>> WILLIAMS: Are you saying it's okay?
>> They say it's okay.
Especially Halle – they said the… >> WILLIAMS: Where they attacked the synagogue.
>> Yes, but you know, when the incident in Halle happened, they started discussing, and the thing they discussed most was why he had just killed two people.
And it was something like, "If I did that, I would kill more, I would kill hundreds."
They support it, and by supporting it, they send the signal to the people in these groups: "Do it - it's OK to do it."
♪ ♪ >> WILLIAMS: Four months after Halle, in February 2020, there was another right-wing extremist attack, this time in Hanau.
>> (Crowd recites): Vili Viorel Paun.
>> Mercedes Kierpacz.
>> (repeated): Mercedes Kierpacz.
>> Hamza Kurtovic.
>> (repeated): Hamza Kurtovic.
>> Said Nesar Hashemi.
>> (Crowd repeats): Nesar Hashemi said.
>> Ferhat Unvar.
>> (repeated): Ferhat Unvar.
>> Kaloyan Velkov.
>> (in German): >> WILLIAMS: Armin Kurtovic's son Hamza was in the Arena Bar, the shooter's next target.
>> (in German): >> WILLIAMS: Nine people were shot, all of them with a migrant background.
Six of them were Muslims.
The murderer returned to his house, where he shot first his mother and then himself.
>> If you don't believe the following, you better wake up quickly.
In your country there are so-called ... >> WILLIAMS: In the weeks before the shootings, Tobias Rathjen published a video of himself repeating wild conspiracy theories and an online manifesto.
He railed against immigrants and demanded that Muslims be “expelled from Germany.”
>> (speaks German): >> (speaks German): >> WILLIAMS: Armin told me he believes the killer was motivated by the hateful rhetoric of right-wing extremist politicians in Germany.
>> (speaks German): >> (speaks German): >> WILLIAMS: The murders in Hanau raised awareness of the xenophobic rhetoric of the AfD, which was then the third largest faction in the German Bundestag.
>> (in German): (Applause) >> WILLIAMS: The AfD has officially condemned the attacks in Hanau and Halle and rejected the suggestion that the killers were motivated by their rhetoric.
But the party was already on the radar of the German Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution.
>> (speaks German): >> WILLIAMS: Thomas Haldenwang is Director General of the German Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution.
>> (in German): >> WILLIAMS: Three weeks after the Hanau attack, his agency officially classified a radical faction of the AfD, known as the “Wing,” as a right-wing extremist threat to democracy.
The wing was placed under state surveillance together with its chairman Björn Höcke, who was also the state chairman of the party in Thuringia.
The AfD dissolved the wing soon after, but ultimately the entire party in Thuringia was classified as extremist.
>> (in German): ♪ ♪ >> WILLIAMS: Björn Höcke rarely speaks to foreign media.
But in March of this year he agreed to an interview at an AfD event in Thuringia.
He repeatedly rejected the accusation that the AfD was extremist or inciting violence and accused the secret services of trying to suppress the legitimate opposition.
OK?
(Woman speaking in the background) >> (speaking German): >> WILLIAMS: The domestic intelligence service is monitoring you and your party because it believes you pose an extremist threat to democracy.
>> (in German): (the crowd cheers and applauds) >> WILLIAMS: The AfD has not always been criticized as extremist.
(Applause) >> (speaking German): >> WILLIAMS: In its early years, the party campaigned on a programme of conservative economic policy and opposition to the European Union.
>> The AfD basically started out as a kind of Eurosceptic party.
>> WILLIAMS: Ann-Katrin Müller reports on the AfD for the investigative magazine “Der Spiegel”.
>> Many people thought they were conservative at the beginning.
It was not apparent from their appearance that they also harbored right-wing extremist ideas.
And that has changed in the last decade with the AfD.
If you listen to the statements of the party leadership, it is clear where they want to go.
>> (in German): >> WILLIAMS: After the influx of refugees in 2015, the AfD began to spread anti-immigration and anti-Islam rhetoric – and its popularity skyrocketed.
>> (in German): (People applaud and shout) >> WILLIAMS: At the national level, the two party leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla have consistently spoken out against immigrants, but are nevertheless considered the more moderate voices in the party.
>> (in German): >> WILLIAMS: Björn Höcke is generally considered the most influential personality in the AfD.
>>Björn Höcke is a special case within the AfD, because he is actually a rather old-fashioned right-wing extremist.
He is not just a radical.
He is not just against immigration.
Actually, he is someone who is in favor of rewriting German history.
(Audience applauds) >> (speaking German): >> WILLIAMS: Höcke is a former history teacher who has been pushing the boundaries of political speech for years.
In 2017, he criticized the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin and argued that Germany needed to change the way it remembers the past.
>> (in German): (Audience clapping in rhythm, chanting) >> He spoke about the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin as a symbol of shame in the heart of the nation.
He is obsessed with history.
>> WILLIAMS: Kai Arzheimer, an expert on political extremism, has examined Höcke's rhetoric on German history.
>> Basically, he is busy whitewashing the actions of the Nazis.
Remembrance culture is the idea that the crimes of the Nazis must never be forgotten and that we should impart to future generations the knowledge that Germany committed these atrocities in the past in order to secure our future.
That's basically the idea.
But what Höcke wants is this 100-degree turnaround.
>> WILLIAMS: Höcke's statements on the Holocaust memorial were widely criticized, even by some members of his own party.
In response to calls for his exclusion from the AfD, he said he had made a “mistake” and learned “many lessons” from it.
But he continued to cause controversy.
In 2021, Höcke gave a speech in which he used, among other things, a slogan used by the Nazis: “Everything for Germany.”
>> (speaks German): >> (sings in German) >> WILLIAMS: Under German law, this expression is illegal, and Höcke was charged with knowingly using a Nazi slogan.
He later described the Nazi era as "horrific," but claimed he did not know the history of the slogan.
>> (speaking German): >> WILLIAMS: Then he did it again.
>> (speaks German): >> (the crowd joins in): (cheers and applause) >> He went to Gera in front of an audience and made everyone shout: “Everyone for Germany.”
After he already knew that he would be prosecuted for this.
Look, any misunderstandings?
Oh, he didn't know what that meant?
Let me remind you that he is a history teacher, a state-certified history teacher, and he knows damn well what that sentence means.
>> WILLIAMS: You are accused of having uttered the Nazi phrase “Everything for Germany.”
Uh, you have been charged with a crime, because that is a crime.
>> (speaks German) >> That's a Nazi saying.
>> (speaks German): >> WILLIAMS: Shortly after our interview, Höcke was found guilty and fined over $30,000.
>> Germany says it has foiled a far-right plot to overthrow the government.
>> More than 3,000 officers took part in an early morning raid.
>> WILLIAMS: When news of the alleged plot to overthrow the government emerged in late 2022, fears about the AfD's links to extremism grew.
>> This is a very fringe movement, potentially a very violent movement.
>> (in German) >> WILLIAMS: Within hours of the arrests, details about the alleged conspirators came to light.
Henry XIII, Prince of Reuss, an aristocrat from Thuringia ... (Man speaking in background) >> WILLIAMS: ... who was a ringleader according to authorities, had spread anti-Semitic conspiracy theories in the past.
>> The representatives of the Rothschild dynasty are proud to have financed the French Revolution and countless other acts of aggression such as wars around the globe.
>> WILLIAMS: Reuss and the other suspects were accused of belonging to a motley movement with thousands of followers known as "Reichsbürger"... >> I advocate a sovereign Germany... >> WILLIAMS: ...who refuse to recognize the modern German state.
(Man speaks German) >> WILLIAMS: Many Reich citizens are considered harmless.
But domestic intelligence officials believe that some of them, including the alleged conspirators, are right-wing extremists.
>> (in German): (Applause) >> WILLIAMS: According to intelligence officials, AfD politician Birgit Malsack-Winkemann was at the centre of the conspiracy.
>> (in German): (some MPs applaud, others shout) >> She was a member of the Bundestag.
And in the party she had, um, pretty good relationships.
>> (in German): (Audience applauds) >> She had meetings and public events with, for example, Alice Weidel, the party leader.
So, uh, yes, the AfD was right in the middle of the Reich Citizens Conspiracy.
>> WILLIAMS: The public prosecutor claims that Winkemann was supposed to become Minister of Justice in the new government of Prince Reuss and that he was involved in preparing the plan to storm the German Bundestag.
>> (in German): (People talking in the background) >> WILLIAMS: More than 20 suspects are on trial for terrorism and treason.
All have denied the allegations.
Prince Reuss's lawyer acknowledged that he had met with other suspects and discussed political issues, but denied that he was the leader of a planned coup.
Birgit Malsack-Winkemann admitted to prosecutors that she was part of the group and that she had led some members through the Reichstag, but denied that there had been any terrorist plans.
>> (in German): >> WILLIAMS: The AfD co-chairs condemned the plot and threatened to expel Winkemann from the party if she was found guilty.
However, they also criticized the authorities’ overreaction.
>> (in German): >> The party leaders stepped in front of the cameras and acted as if it were only the old people who could not do anything.
So it was kind of ridiculous.
>> (speaks German) >> This is not funny.
It's not even a funny story because they were very dangerous.
They were very well prepared.
Of course, they would not have taken over Germany and overthrown the government, the federal government and everyone else, but it would probably have been a very bloody attack on our government institutions.
(Drums, whistles) >> WILLIAMS: The Reich Citizens plot has not diminished the popularity of the AfD.
(Cheers and applause) >> WILLIAMS: In 2023, you won a series of local election victories and received over 30% of the vote in Thuringia.
>> The approval ratings for the Alternative for Germany are higher than ever before in its ten-year history.
>> In nationwide polls, the AfD is currently at around 19 percent.
The party is expecting significant gains in next year's state elections... >> WILLIAMS: You had benefited from widespread concern about a new influx of refugees, this time from Ukraine, as well as inflation, the cost of living and the government's expensive green energy policies.
>> (in German): >> WILLIAMS: And concerns about the growing power of the AfD took on a new urgency.
>> In the eastern state of Thuringia, one in three voters now supports the AfD.
>> WILLIAMS: So, the evidence.
>> The proof is here.
>> WILLIAMS: In the autumn of this year, journalists from the investigative news site Correctiv received a tip about a secret meeting of right-wing extremist groups that was to take place in this hotel outside Potsdam.
>> So here is the hotel.
>> WILLIAMS: Right, right.
>> This is the recording from there.
>> WILLIAMS: Good.
And that was a useful approach?
>> Yes, very much so.
This is how all the pictures were created.
>> WILLIAMS: Correctiv journalist Jean Peters led an undercover investigation together with Greenpeace activists.
Shortly before the meeting, he checked into the hotel and pretended to be a regular guest.
>> As far as I know, I was the only guest, apart from the others from the meeting.
And they were a little surprised.
"Why is he here?"
We had cameras outside, two cars.
I had a watch with a camera in it.
So, that's the guy who actually leads the party in Saxony-Anhalt, that's Ulrich Siegmund.
>> WILLIAMS: AfD.
>> Yes, AfD.
>> WILLIAMS: So this is important evidence that these people actually attended the meeting.
>> Yes.
And there I saw some letters on a table with names on them, so I knew I needed this, I needed the names.
So I turned around, said hello, shook hands with a guy from the conference, and said something like, "No, I'm just a guest."
I turned around again, took my phone and filmed these letters.
>> WILLIAMS: Peters and his team have collected the names of about two dozen people.
Among those present were entrepreneurs and well-known right-wing extremists, but also conservative politicians and high-ranking members of the AfD.
That must have been pretty nerve-wracking.
>> Yes, that was my adrenaline moment.
Um, all, all of that.
So we're looking at this place, right?
>> WILLIAMS: According to reports collected by the Correctiv team, participants then discussed a plan for the mass deportation of immigrants, even those with German citizenship.
>> It was a master plan in the truest sense of the word.
The deportation, I would say - they call it "remigration" - of millions of people, including people with a German passport.
♪ ♪ >> WILLIAMS: The keynote speaker at the meeting was Austrian right-wing extremist Martin Sellner.
>> (in German): >> WILLIAMS: According to Correctiv, he suggested that Germany should deport millions of immigrants to a so-called model city in North Africa.
He called it remigration.
>> It is an openly racist idea.
So there are the real Germans, those who have it in their blood and in their, you know, they call it culture these days.
And there are those who should return to countries where they are happier because, you know, they are not real Germans and therefore they will never be assimilated here.
>> WILLIAMS: Martin Sellner later confirmed that he had raised the idea of return migration at the meeting, but denied that he had spoken about the deportation of German citizens.
Four AfD members listened to his lecture, including Roland Hartwig, advisor to federal chairwoman Alice Weidel.
>> You spoke of a commission that, once it comes to power, would act very quickly on all these matters.
They talked about cash flows to realize this plan.
They talked about an influence agency that could prepare people.
So you can sense that they are thinking outside the box and are ready to take power.
>> Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets across the country.
>> The outrage follows reports that members of the Alternative for Germany party met with right-wing extremists to discuss plans for the mass deportation of migrants... >> ...to essentially reverse the influx of unwanted Germans by force.
>> (Leaders chant): Say it loud!
Say it clearly!
>> (Voices from the crowd): Refugees are welcome here!
>> WILLIAMS: Correctiv's research into the Potsdam meeting sent shockwaves through German society.
>> (in German): >> WILLIAMS: The revelations sparked mass protests against the AfD over several weeks... >> (in German): >> WILLIAMS: ...in cities across Germany.
>> The revelations in Potsdam have made the AfD’s positions clear to many people.
And it was truly an extraordinary story for the Germans.
Of course, it was not just about anonymous refugees.
This made me realize that, at the end of the day, this was about friends, neighbors, family, people like you and me who happen to have a parent or grandparent from Turkey or Africa or wherever.
>> (in German): >> It was really very reminiscent of the Nazi approach: they isolated German citizens because they did not fit the stereotype of the tall, blond, ethnically German man whose family had not moved for 500 years.
And that caused great outrage.
>> PROTESTERS (singing in German): >> The demonstrations have really shaken the AfD, because the AfD's narrative in recent years has always been that it is the party of the people and brings people onto the streets.
Now the demonstrations against the AfD were suddenly much bigger, much, much bigger.
>> WILLIAMS: Under pressure, the AfD said it had no organizational or financial ties to the Potsdam meeting and that the plan to forcibly deport German citizens was not the party's policy.
Alice Weidel dismissed the advisor present.
However, she also attacked the reporters who uncovered the story.
>> (in German): ♪ ♪ >> WILLIAMS: Shortly after the revelations in Potsdam, I visited the AfD stronghold of Thuringia to interview Björn Höcke.
>> (in German): >> WILLIAMS: Despite the backlash, the AfD was still ahead in the polls, which means that Höcke could soon become the country's prime minister.
>> (in German): >> WILLIAMS: If the AfD comes to power in the September elections, it could gain control of the police and domestic intelligence service at the state level, as well as over funding for refugee aid and the public media.
At an election campaign event in Leinefelde, Höcke was the main attraction.
(Cheers and applause) One of his first targets was to investigate Correctiv.
(Applause) >> (speaks German): (Audience applauds, calls out) >> WILLIAMS: Then he turned to the topic of return migration.
>> (in German): (Applause and cheering) >> WILLIAMS: Höcke denies that if the AfD came to power it would forcibly deport people with a migration background who already have German citizenship.
However, he says that immigrants who have not integrated into German society are “encouraged” to leave under the AfD.
>> (speaks German): (People talking in the background) >> WILLIAMS: For some, Höcke's rhetoric about minorities is reminiscent of Germany's darkest days.
>> He uses stereotypes, he uses racism, he uses this Nazi talk, er, he uses his revisionist ideas, and all in all, all of these statements basically violate the principles of our federal constitution.
(both speak German) >> WILLIAMS: But Höcke's supporters in Thuringia rejected the accusation that his rhetoric was reminiscent of that of the Nazis.
>> (in German): >> WILLIAMS: Some people say the AfD has links to the extreme right.
They have connections to neo-Nazis.
>> Yes?
>> WILLIAMS: Are you afraid that by supporting the AfD you are reviving National Socialism?
>> (speaks German): >> (speaks German): >> WILLIAMS: Höcke told me that if he comes to power in Thuringia, he wants to radically reform the domestic intelligence service, which continues to monitor him and his party.
>> (in German): >> Mr Höcke has said very clearly that if he becomes Prime Minister after the next state election in September or takes over the office in Thuringia – which is possible – the first thing he will do is fire me.
The question would be: How will my Office for the Protection of the Constitution work if the next head of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution in Thuringia is likely to be a right-wing extremist who was appointed and deployed by Prime Minister Björn Höcke or his government?
He says quite openly that he wants to deprive democracy of its special task of defence, which was created to act against those enemies from within who defend democracy against democracy.
And I think that says it all.
>> WILLIAMS: When I first met Katharina König-Preuss in 2021, she was researching right-wing extremist networks that operated secretly on the Internet.
In 2024, she says, the threat is obvious and she is concentrating on fighting the AfD in Thuringia.
>> (in German): >> WILLIAMS: Today she is organizing a march in support of a new refugee shelter.
>> (Speak): Say it loud, say it clearly!
Refugees are welcome here!
>> (in German): (Crowd chants, speaking in the background) For people with, uh, a different skin colour, i.e. with a migration background, it is no longer safe in some parts of Thuringia.
And they, they told me that people had spit in front of them, and not just once.
This happens two, three, seven, ten times.
Um, that the bus does not stop if there are only migrants at the bus station.
Young children from Syria, around the age of eight or nine, are confronted with racist hatred.
>> (sings in German): >> I'm afraid of what will happen if we don't stop it.
Many of them came to Germany to be in a safe place.
You are no longer safe in Germany.
You are not safe now.
And if things continue like this, I don't know what will happen to them.
(Song continues) >> (Sings in German): >> If we want to live in a democracy in ten, 15 years, we must act now.
Um, there's no time to wait anymore.
And if we, um, if we give them just a little bit of power in government or at the local level or in Berlin, in Germany, they will use it.
And they will use it against their enemies.
First, perhaps simply by cutting financial support for refugees or for democratic, er, projects, whatever.
But secondly, thirdly, what's going on?
What will happen?
And that's why we have to stop it now.
They will use democracy to destroy democracy.
And we have to recognize that.
>> Major victories for right-wing extremist politicians across Europe.
>> WILLIAMS: In the summer of 2024, far-right parties across Europe, including the AfD, made major gains in the EU elections.
>> In essence, European voters have moved Parliament further to the right than ever before.
(Whistles, cheers from the crowd) >> (in German): >> WILLIAMS: If Höcke and the AfD come to power in Thuringia, this would be the first time since the Nazi era that a far-right party controls a German state.
For Stephan Kramer, this would be the straw that broke the camel’s back.
>>If the AfD comes into government, if they have the say, I will leave the country.
And I don’t say that lightly.
I have lived in Germany all my life.
I grew up in Germany.
I am a reserve officer in Germany.
I fight for this democracy.
This is my home.
But once this first step is taken, that is my red line.
>> WILLIAMS: Why don't you just move to another part of Germany if you're in Thuringia?
>> Because I say: If it starts in one state, it will continue in others.
We Germans seem to have a cultural problem with reading, understanding and listening to what dictators say, write and do.
When Hitler wrote Mein Kampf, people said, “Oh, come on.”
For God's sake: read, listen, understand!
Take what they say seriously, because most of the time they do what they say.
>> WILLIAMS: You continue to be associated with the far right, and that's what worries people.
They think you are restricting the press and deporting people.
People believe that this is exactly what will happen if you govern the country.
>> (speaks German): (car chimes softly) >> WILLIAMS: It is now more than four years since Armin Kurtovic's son Hamza was shot dead in Hanau by a right-wing extremist gunman.
Last year he was able to view the police investigation report.
This revealed that the day before the shooting, the murderer had watched videos of a right-wing extremist event at which Björn Höcke spoke.
>> (in German): ♪ ♪ Subtitled by the Media Access Group at WGBH access.wgbh.org >> For more information about this and other “FRONTLINE” programs, visit our website at pbs.org/frontline.
♪ ♪ “Germany's Enemy Within” by FRONTLINE is available on Amazon Prime Video.
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