{"id":16507,"date":"2026-05-18T17:55:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T17:55:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/16507\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T17:55:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T17:55:15","slug":"angelique-geray-journalist-infiltrated-among-german-neo-nazis-what-surprised-me-most-is-that-these-young-people-are-serious-international","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/16507\/","title":{"rendered":"Angelique Geray, journalist infiltrated among German neo-Nazis: \u2018What surprised me most is that these young people are serious\u2019 | International"},"content":{"rendered":"

They are teenagers, or young adults barely over the age of 20, but above all, far-right radicals who dream of \u201cDay X,\u201d the day it all begins, the day they will massacre immigrants. Germans who go to school, attend training programs, or work \u2014 far removed from the neo-Nazi stereotype of skinheads in bomber jackets \u2014 and who then immerse themselves in far-right extremist movements that speak of a \u201cpure people,\u201d downplay the Holocaust, and hate migrants, but now also direct their anger at feminists and the LGBTQ+ community. German investigative journalist Angelique Geray, 33, decided to infiltrate these groups between 2024 and 2025 to understand how they become radicalized. \u201cI wanted to find out why right-wing extremism<\/a> is once again presenting itself as a kind of cult or youth trend,\u201d she explained earlier this month in a cafe in southern Berlin after publishing her experience in a book titled Undercover unter Nazis (Undercover Among Nazis).<\/p>\n

Authorities have been warning about this phenomenon for some time. Right-wing extremists use forums and platforms like Telegram, Instagram, and TikTok to recruit new, increasingly younger followers, whom they invite to private chat groups. Intelligence services warn of a new generation of neo-Nazis, and in 2025 they registered more than 5,300 young people \u2014 mostly between the ages of 14 and 17 \u2014 who allegedly committed far-right-motivated crimes.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t the first time Geray has infiltrated these circles. She did so in 2018 with the so-called Reichsb\u00fcrger (Citizens of the Reich) movement<\/a>, which rejects the existence of the Federal Republic of Germany and whose leaders were arrested in 2022 for plotting a coup. It was then that she developed her cover identity, that of Isabell, \u201ca young woman with an inner resentment, who is dissatisfied with Germany.\u201d Under that name, she later infiltrated the Identit\u00e4re Bewegung (Identity Movement) and, in 2024, the Junge Nationalisten (Young Nationalists, JN) and Letzte Verteidigungswelle (Last Wave of Defense, LVW), a group that surprised her because of the youth of its members and the violent acts they intended to carry out, which the journalist ultimately exposed.<\/p>\n

\"\"Entrance to a neo-Nazi gathering in the municipality of Eschede (Germany).Recherche Nord<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I\u2019ve observed during this time is that many, especially the very young ones, are precisely seeking recognition. It\u2019s about \u2014 first and foremost \u2014 belonging to these groups and also being valued. These groups always have a very hierarchical structure,\u201d Geray explains. This is the case, for example, with LVW, where there are positions such as Gauleiter \u2014 as the Nazis called the heads of each zone \u2014 head of the Gestapo, or Minister of Propaganda. Meanwhile, many of the approximately 60 members, aged between 14 and 21, address the founder as their F\u00fchrer.<\/p>\n

Once inside the group, they are incited to action; words alone are not enough. \u201cEveryone wants to move up the ladder. And in these groups, advancement is achieved by planning or even carrying out particularly spectacular acts. From setting fire to mailboxes and painting swastikas on houses, to setting fire to the homes of political opponents; they even went so far as to hatch a plan to burn down a refugee center,\u201d Geray recounts about experiences she later shared in a podcast, a documentary for the RTL network, and now also in a book.<\/p>\n

As she explains, one can only be a member of the Young Nationalists (JN) if they are 100% European and at least 50% German. They recruit people between the ages of 15 and 35, reaching them through social media, but also through leisure activities such as boxing, concerts, and excursions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the JN, I had to fill out an old-fashioned form with a photo, my address, and my bank account number to pay a membership fee. In the case of LVW, the contact was made through TikTok. Then we moved to WhatsApp, and there they sent me a series of questions like: \u201cWhy have you become right-wing? What do you want to do for Germany?\u201d<\/p>\n

They immediately sent her videos of young people wearing balaclavas in a room full of weapons. \u201cAnd they explained to me that it was about preparing for Day X, for situations similar to a civil war, in which they go out into the streets with the intention of killing immigrants.\u201d In fact, one of their rules stipulated that they had to equip themselves with \u201cknives, brass knuckles, starter pistols, firecrackers, and so on, in order to be more radical.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSieg Heil Kameradin!\u201d they greeted Isabell in the chat groups where they also reported on events and actions of all kinds, and shared addresses of those they consider enemies. \u201cWe should pay this one a visit. Who has time next week?\u201d<\/p>\n

She thus immersed herself in a world where people drove cars with license plates like AH 204: AH for Adolf Hitler<\/a> and 204 for his birthday, April 20. In March 2025, she even attended a secret neo-Nazi training camp organized by JN. No one suspected a thing. She also ventured onto dating platforms like White Date. \u201cI wanted to know how it works when neo-Nazis go out looking for love,\u201d she recounts. For a year and a half, she met with different men. \u201cMany would start the conversation by saying, \u2018You want to have four children, don\u2019t you?\u2019\u201d They made it clear that her time would be for the family and that she would have to obey the man.<\/p>\n

She went everywhere accompanied by a security team that kept a distance, and equipped with a hidden camera whenever possible. Little by little, she gained the trust of those she spoke with and was able to see how young people become radicalized at \u201ca dizzying speed.\u201d \u201cMany join because they feel terribly alone; they have hardly any leisure activities in their rural surroundings, and when they do, these come precisely from far-right groups.\u201d<\/p>\n

Members come from diverse backgrounds. \u201cWhat surprised me most, actually, is that these young people are serious. The argument often comes up that, well, they\u2019re young and they\u2019re not serious. But I\u2019m convinced that if even young people fantasize about something like a race war and are willing to commit such brutal acts, then it has to be taken seriously,\u201d Geray maintains.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, these groups do not hold a favorable opinion of the far-right Alternative for Germany<\/a> (AfD) party, which came in second place in the last election, behind the conservatives. \u201cWhen I\u2019ve asked about the AfD, they\u2019ve described it as a kind of \u2018useful idiot.\u2019 The party and its leaders are despised, but they are strategically used to gradually shift the boundaries of what can be said further to the right, so that, at some point, even more extremist parties can emerge,\u201d the journalist explains.<\/p>\n

After months undercover, in May 2025, the situation turned dangerous when she crossed the Czech border with LVW members to buy so-called \u201cspherical bombs\u201d \u2014 extremely dangerous, large fireworks banned in Germany \u2014 which, as she was later told, they planned to use to attack a refugee center. It was then that she decided to go to the police, who carried out raids and arrested eight young people aged between 15 and 22 on charges of, among other things, belonging to a terrorist organization, attempted murder, and arson. Their trial began in March, and last week, Geray testified. \u201cI was so nervous I felt terrible,\u201d she recalls.<\/p>\n

At first, they didn\u2019t know who had betrayed them, but now they do. After the investigation, she decided to come forward. \u201cI didn\u2019t want to give them the opportunity to expose me,\u201d something she believes would have been only a matter of time. \u201cMost people were taken by surprise,\u201d but there were also those who didn\u2019t take it well, like one member of LVW. \u201cHe swore revenge. He contacted me with a letter and said he regretted bringing me into the group. He\u2019s taking the blame and vowing to kill me. He says he\u2019ll find someone outside to do it.\u201d She now moves \u201ca little more carefully\u201d and has bought a baseball bat. \u201cI keep it by my bed. I hope I never have to use it. But, in general, I\u2019m trying not to let this affect my day-to-day life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sign up for our weekly newsletter<\/a> to get more English-language news coverage from EL PA\u00cdS USA Edition<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"They are teenagers, or young adults barely over the age of 20, but above all, far-right radicals who…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16508,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4984,452,18,5,2034,20466,8220],"class_list":["post-16507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-germany","tag-adolf-hitler","tag-afd","tag-berlin","tag-germany","tag-instagram","tag-telegram","tag-tiktok"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16507"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16507\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}