A radical far-right group in Germany, accused of planning to establish a Nazi state following the collapse of the government, practiced live-ammunition firing in Poland and the Czech Republic, news outlets have reported after holding an investigation.
Eight members of the group, called the Saxon Separatists, were arrested in November and charged with terrorist offenses. The group’s suspected ringleader, 23-year-old Jörg S., was apprehended in Poland by the country’s Internal Security Agency.
More than 450 officers from Germany, Poland and Austria took part in a drive to dismantle the group, classified as a domestic terrorist organization.
The group is believed to have undergone paramilitary training with a view to taking control of parts of eastern Germany following the expected collapse of the federal state on an unspecified ‘Day X.’
They are accused of planning ethnic cleansing of “unwanted groups of people” in the areas they intended to seize and of seeking to establish a regime “inspired” by National Socialism, the BBC reported, citing prosecutors in the case.
The group, founded in 2020 and numbering 15–20 members, “repeatedly completed paramilitary training in combat gear,” prosecutors said.
An investigation by German news magazine Der Spiegel, Austrian daily Der Standard and German public radio station MDR found that members of the Saxon Separatists conducted live-ammunition training in Poland and the Czech Republic.
Der Spiegel reported that the group had acquired combat gear, including helmets and gas masks, and had practiced urban fighting and the use of night-vision equipment.
This is not the first time reports have emerged of German right-wing extremists training with firearms in the Czech Republic. In 2021, Bavarian public broadcaster BR produced a documentary that described firing ranges in Czech border regions as a paradise for far-right radicals.
