Blood and Honour: That’s behind the neo-Nazi network

process in Munich
Ten suspected members accused: That’s behind the neo-Nazi network “Blood and Honour”

It’s about the distribution of right-wing rock, merchandise with anti-constitutional symbols, the violation of the ban on associations and hate speech: the trial against ten alleged officials of the neo-Nazi network “Blood and Honour”, which is banned in Germany, began on Monday at the Munich I Regional Court. The alleged “division head Germany” and three “section heads” from Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg and Thuringia are said to be among the accused.

The “Blood and Honor” network is considered one of the oldest in the neo-Nazi scene and is intended to serve as an umbrella organization for many other splinter groups. It has been banned in Germany since September 2000. However, research by various media shows that the network still exists today and is still used by members for conspiratorial purposes.

“Blood and Honor”: Neo-Nazi network still active today

“Blood and Honour” was founded in 1987 by the British right-wing extremist Ian Stuart Donaldson, then frontman of the right-wing rock band “Skrewdriver”. The name of the network is the English translation of the Nazi Hitler Youth slogan “Blood and Honor”. In Germany, the exclamation is considered an anti-constitutional symbol.

Donaldson recognized that right-wing rock can be sold much better via organized networks. Even today, right-wing rock is a central element for neo-Nazis in several respects: the music helps to recruit new members, it has the opportunity to radicalize and, last but not least, it is the most important source of income for right-wing underground organizations. As Thuringia’s President for the Protection of the Constitution, Stephan Kramer, explained to ZDF, in Thuringia alone around one million euros are earned annually with right-wing extremist music and concerts.

The German offshoot of “Blood and Honor” was founded in 1994 and was led by Stephan Lange. As later became known, Lange spied on the scene for several years as a so-called V-man and passed on findings to the Office for the Protection of the Constitution.

Whether in Great Britain, Germany or in other countries of the world, what unites the members of “Blood and Honor” is a militantly racist ideology of the desired “race war” and the tactics of “leaderless resistance” prescribed by Donaldson.

The local offshoots of the network should be networked, but be able to act largely independently in order to plan and carry out terrorist actions without running the risk of losing central actors, for example through arrests. The terrorists of the “National Socialist Underground” (NSU), who murdered at least nine people with a migration background over a period of several years, also followed this principle.

“Combat 18”: The armed arm of “Blood and Honor”

Both the NSU and the murderer of the Kassel District President Walter Lübke, Stephan E., are said to have been networked in “Blood and Honor” circles. E. apparently had particular contact with a sub-group of “Blood and Honour”: “Combat 18”. The group is said to see itself as the armed arm of the umbrella organization, but according to the Federal Ministry of the Interior there are no signs of this. In this case, the number 18 is a cipher for the first and eighth letters in the alphabet: AH, the initials of Adolf Hitler.

The militant group is responsible for a series of racist attacks across Europe. Similar to the “mother ship” “Blood and Honour”, “Combat 18” also propagates an ideology of supremacy of the “white race”. The organizational structure is also similar – “Combat 18” also acts as a leaderless, self-sufficient conglomerate of many scattered micro-groups, which formally follow a similar goal and the same ideology, but are supposed to plan and carry out their actions and attacks individually.

Apparently, the neo-Nazi networks are not smashing bans either

Following the murder of Walter Lübke and a series of death threats against politicians, businessmen and journalists who were variously signed “Combat 18” or had other indications of a connection to the group, the Federal Ministry of the Interior banned the group in January 2020.

The reason given is that the group is committed to the NSDAP and its officials, is racist, anti-Semitic and xenophobic and has a militant-aggressive attitude. Overall, the BMI counts about 20 people in six federal states to “Combat 18” – the number of unreported cases is likely to be higher.

Whether a club ban will really lead to the breakup of the group is very questionable. In the case of “Blood and Honour” too, it was subsequently observed that the same people stayed in touch with the same contacts and even continued to hold conspiratorial meetings at which right-wing extremist music was played. In many cases, however, it was no longer under the forbidden name “Blood and Honour” but often as “Division 28”, which was also to be understood as a code for the letters “BH” – the initials for “Blood and Honour”.

For the trial against the alleged members of “Blood and Honor” in Munich, 46 trial dates are initially scheduled.

Sources:ZDF documentation (media library), Federal Ministry of the Interior, Federal Agency for Civic Education, Deutschlandfunkwith material from DPA and AFP

pgo