Berlin orders search of barracks over Nazi scandal
May 7, 2017
The head of Germany's armed forces has ordered an inspection of all military barracks after Nazi-era memorabilia was discovered in two garrisons. The army is probing far-right sympathizers in its ranks.
Image: Imago/sepp spiegl
Advertisement
Germany searches for Nazi-era items
00:28
This browser does not support the video element.
Bundeswehr Inspector General Volker Wieker (pictured above, center) has instructed senior officials to search all military properties and remove any Nazi symbols, the Defense Ministry said Sunday.
According to the mass market "Bild" newspaper, Wieker sent around a memo last week asking army inspectors to hand in an interim report by Tuesday and complete the building checks one week later.
"This examination covers all official properties, premises and offices under the army's responsibility," the directive said.
The move comes amid a deepening scandal over right-wing extremism among some members of the German military.
Inside Europe - The German Defence Minister on the defensive
This browser does not support the audio element.
Wehrmacht memorabilia
The controversy ignited last month after the arrest of a 28-year-old soldier stationed at a Franco-German base near Strasbourg who had expressed far-right views and was said to be plotting a terrorist attack disguised as a Syrian refugee. At his base at Illkirch in northeastern France, officials had found Wehrmacht memorabilia openly displayed in the common room without any apparent effort to remove it.
The Wehrmacht was the name of the Nazi regime's army. Investigators looking into far-right sympathizers in the army later discovered similar Wehrmacht items at another base in the Black Forest town of Donaueschingen in southwestern Germany.
News magazine "Spiegel" reported on Saturday that a display case containing Nazi-era Wehrmacht helmets was found, as well as a room decked out with Wehrmacht memorabilia including pictures of soldiers, pistols, more helmets and military decorations.
'No criminal offense'
A Defense Ministry spokesman said the objects found at Donaueschingen did not include Nazi items punishable under German law such as swastikas. However, on a visit to Illkirch on Wednesday, Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen said she would not tolerate the veneration of the Wehrmacht.
With a federal election less than six months away, the Defense Ministry and the army are scrambling to contain the scandal. Von der Leyen, who is close to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, has demanded her generals show zero tolerancetowards any extremist leanings within the ranks.
The minister has sharply rebuked the armed forces for leadership failures, criticizing "a misunderstood esprit de corps" that led superior officers to "look the other way."
"This process of clarification demands courage and tenacity," she told "Bild" on Sunday.
"We must all support it, from the general down to the new recruits because it concerns the reputation of the Bundeswehr."
Bundeswehr scandals: Von der Leyen on the defensive
For German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen, 2017 has so far been a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year. She's had to weather numerous Bundeswehr scandals and is under fire for not supporting her own troops.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Sauer
Von der Leyen under fire
Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen wanted to show she's not blind to problems among her own troops. In light of the most recent scandal, she openly criticized army leadership, saying the Bundeswehr had an "attitude problem." But Bundeswehr officials found her comments to be outrageous. Their response to the defense minister's criticism: "Leadership goes from the top down."
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/G. Fischer
A fake Syrian refugee
The story causing the uproar: Bundeswehr lieutenant Franco A. was allegedly planning a terrorist attack and led a double life, pretending to be a Syrian refugee. He was granted partial asylum status as a war refugee in December 2016. His alleged goal: another attack blamed on a refugee. Bundeswehr officials are said to have known about Franco A.'s right-wing tendencies since 2014, but did nothing.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/F. Rumpenhorst
Abuse in Bad Reichenhall mountain rangers unit
The Bundeswehr is currently investigating 275 cases of suspected right-wing extremism. But they're also dealing with other types of scandals. In March 2017, the public learned about the case of a lance corporal who had suffered months of abuse in a Bavarian mountain rangers unit. The victim reported being threatened and sexually harassed in 2015 and 2016. Prosecutors investigated 14 people.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Hoppe
Female recruits forced to pole-dance
The biggest scandal of von der Leyen's term so far: the horror stories coming out of the Staufer army base in Pfullendorf. In January, it was revealed that superior officers there forced recruits to undress and perform sexually-motivated acts and filmed them. Female recruits were forced to pole dance as part of an "entrance exam." The top Bundeswehr training commander was fired as a result.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/T. Warnack
Many cases of right-wing extremism investigated
According to a report from Germany's federal parliamentary commissioner for the Bundeswehr, Hans-Peter Bartels, 2016 wasn't a great year for the Bundeswehr, either. There were around 60 incidents related to alleged right-wing extremism or "violations against the bases of Germany's free democratic constitutional structure." Troops shared anti-Semitic images and music or did the Nazi salute.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Sauer
Death on board the Gorch Fock
The Bundeswehr wasn't immune to scandals before von der Leyen became defense minister in December 2013. One that garnered significant public attention was the death of a 25-year-old recruit on the Navy training vessel Gorch Fock in 2010. The woman fell from the rigging during an exercise. As a consequence, other cadets refused to climb the rigging. Officer training on the ship was suspended.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/C. Rehder
The birth of the Bundeswehr
Directly after World War II, Germany was not allowed to have an army. The Bundeswehr had its start in West Germany in 1955. After reunification, the Bundeswehr took in 20,000 soldiers from East Germany's armed forces. A big change came in 1999, when the Bundeswehr first participated in an international conflict: the Kosovo War. Before that, they had only gone abroad for peacekeeping missions.
Image: picture alliance/akg-images
No more mandatory service
Today the Bundeswehr has roughly 178,200 active soldiers. As of March 2017, 11.4 percent of them are women. Until 2011, men were required to do mandatory military service, the length of which varied between nine and 18 months. Today, the Bundeswehr has to appeal to young people to recruit soldiers. The most recent scandals are making that that more and more difficult.
