German State Backs Neo-Nazi Press
Posted by Thomas Klikauer
The not too stupid sections of German Neo-Nazis run a monthly jounal. Obliquely, it is labelled Compact in order to smokescreen the outfits’s rampant racism, anti-Semitism, and Neo-Nazism.
The pamphlet’s editors are Jürgen Elsässer as well as the even more outspoken Neo-Nazi Götz Kubitschek. Both operate in cahoots with Neo-Nazi Benedikt Kaiser and the infamous NS-Boys. Both are also staunch supporters of the neo-fascist AfD.
On 24th June 2025, Elsässer and his Neo-Nazi brochure won a decisive victory in Germany’s Federal Administrative Court. The court’s decision overturned the government’s ban on the Neo-Nazi magazine Compact.
At the end of the court preceedings, Elsässer celebtrated his “win” over Germany’s democratic government by showing off the t-shirt he was wearing.
His insignia read, Bundesregiertungs Besieger – I won against the government. It was a great triumph for Germany’s Neo-Nazism.
For Neo-Nazis, these things are about Sieg (victory) of the beloved Führerprincip over their mortal enemy – democracy. They see such court decision as part of an eternal battle of the Aryan race against the much- hated decadence of Kant’s cosmopolitanism and liberal democracy.
Elsässer’s dogwhistling-like Besieger (the victor) tells fellow Neo-Nazis that “I (Elsässer) can besiege the government. I can annihilate democracy” – the ultimate goal of Neo-Nazism.
Way more than most Germans, Neo-Nazis have truly learned from the past. They live up to what none other than Hitler’s propaganda boss, Goebbels wrote in 1935,
It will always remain one of the best jokes of democracy
that it provided its mortal enemies with the means by which it was destroyed.
With Germany’s recent court ruling, Neo-Nazis will – paradoxically, cunningly, and deceptively – claim they won on behalf of free speech and democracy. Meanwhile, they are destroying press freedom whenever they can.
For their ultimate goal of eradicating free speech and democracy, German Neo-Nazis welcome a court decision that certifies their dehumanising Neo-Nazis propaganda machine.
The legal showdown in the court’s local – the East-German city of Leipzig – resulted in a clear decision. The Neo-Nazi gazette can continue to appear – unbothered by the state.
The debate about the Neo-Nazis magazine had been simmering since last year when Compact – that first published in 2010 – was accused of:
- lurid front pages,
- contrived insults of, what it calls the “liberal-democratic elite”, while also
- spreading anti-Muslim and anti-Semitic hatred.
Next to online neo-fascism, Compact is one of the central mouthpieces of Germany’s far right and the often smooth-talking street thugs like Pegida – the miniature storm troopers of the neo-fascist AfD.
According to Compact’s own – and most likely extremely inflated numbers – the Neo-Nazis periodical sells around 40,000 copies. Germany’s government classified it as “right-wing extremist“ in 2020. The term “extremist” is the government’s official codeword for Neo-Nazism.
Since 2015, Compact also runs a Neo-Nazi Youtube channel called Compact-TV with almost 515,000 subscribers (June 2025) – Nazism goes TV! Its broadcasting of Neo-Nazi ideology is kindly supported by Alphabet-Google-YouTube.
Compact’s far right ideological TV propaganda channel discusses news in a reactionary, extremist, right-wing populist, and Neo-Nazi manner.
Seeking to protect democracy from Neo-Nazi propaganda, the then minister of interior – Nancy Faeser – issued a ban against Compact in 2024.
The ministry stated that Compact produces “anti-Semitic, racist, anti-minority, historical revisionist and conspiracy-theoretical content” (read: Neo-Nazi content).
The government argued that the magazine and its TV outfit act “against Germany’s pluralistic system that respects the human dignity of the individual and promotes the free and equal participation of all citizens in the formation of political will”.
As an example, the government noted Compact’s ethnic (read: racist!) and nationalist ways of thinking describing non-Germans as “ethnically strangers”.
This innocent sounding term is used by Neo-Nazis against non-Aryans – the Untermensch. For Neo-Nazis, it issues a call for ethnic cleansing anticipated in the ideologically-motivated misbelief that there is a Rassenkrieg – a war of the races.
Germany’s government was afraid that readers and viewers of Compact’s Neo-Nazi propaganda advocates the overthrow of Germany’s democratic order and that Compact incites people to take violent actions against Germany’s constitutional order.
With Faeser’s move against the Neo-Nazis, the magazine ceased publication. Its YouTube channel was blocked.
As expected, the government’s ban on Compact caused outrage in Germany’s right-wing and Neo-Nazi camp. Others criticised not the ban on the magazine but agued it was unclear what it was supposed to achieve.
Even for propaganda outlets that are openly anti-democratic and anti-constitutional, a ban on an entire media company is an extremely rare occurance in Germany’s legal system.
Unlike banning an individual texts or an individual issues of Compact, such a move might be in conflict with article 5 of Germany’s constitution, known as The Basic Law. Article 5 protects freedom of opinion and freedom of the press.
Germany’s Association of the Free Press criticised the government. It considered the ban to be unjustified.
In 2025, it can still do that – as long as their association still exists. Neo-Nazis have very clear ideas about press freedom. Nazism knows this as Gleichschaltung – the elimination of the free press.
Compact itself reacted to the ban by going to court. With the recent ruling of Germany’s Administrative Court (June 2025), it is now clear that the Neo-Nazi pamphlet Compact will continue to spread hate speech.
Even in its ruling, court judges admitted that Compact takes a combative-aggressive attitude towards constitutional principles.
Beyond that, the court also recognized that there are individual texts in the magazine that attack Germany’s democratic constitution.
Yet, it deemed that Compact does not do so predominately. Nazi camouflaging works to perfection.
In short, the smokescreening by Germany’s Neo-Nazis has been successful. There were moments in German history, when Hitler presented himself as a “Great Peacemaker”.
Decades later, Augusto Pinochet’s brutal regime tortured thousands to death – proclamined, I am an angel.
After the verdirct, Germany’s foremost Neo-Nazi magazine is protected by Germany’s constitution. Its provisions on “freedom of press” support the far right propaganda outlet until, of course, its thugs will eliminate the free press.
With the dangerous hallucination that there can be no ban on the right-wing extremist media, the court accepted the lawsuit by the Neo-Nazi publisher. This created a glorious triumph for the menacing battalions of German Neo-Nazis.
Neo-Nazi publisher Elsässer could not stop smirking over the judge’s short-sightedness, i.e. the Neo-Nazis fight against democracy.
In any case, Compact was never charged with any criminal offences. Yet, the Neo-Nazi outfit cajoles people into its ideological orbit. Some making the 23,493 “officially recorded” Neo-Nazi crimes in Germany possible:
- For the court, there is no link between the two.
- For German Neo-Nazis, there is a link.
- For the Neo-Nazi propaganda outfit Compact, this link is the raison d’être for its existence.
Yet, the presiding judge – Ingo Kraft – himself justified the lifting of the ban on Compact by – rather paradoxically – saying that Compact is not just a media company, but pursues a political agenda, organizes events and campaigns.
In other words, the fact that the Neo-Nazi propaganda setup Compact is part of Germany’s AfD/Neo-Nazi platoons did not matter – particularly in a country that gave the world Auschwitz.
Part of the established body of Neo-Nazism, is, of course, the AfD. Compact refers to the Neo-Nazi party as “its blue wave”. It uses “blue” to camouflage their traditional colour “brown” – as in Hitler’s brownshirts.
The court’s perilous hallucination reached a climax when noting that Compact does indeed disseminate content that is directed against Germany’s democratic-constitutional order. However, these contents were not “formative” for Compact which the court misguidedly argued.
In other words, by cunningly mixing Neo-Nazi ideology with travel tips, cooking ideas, pedo-satanics, and fabulations like “from pharaoh to Vatican” and “satan, pop and Holywood”, German Neo-Nazis are no longer Neo-Nazis. It was clever and cunning and it blind-sided the court rather successfully.
Worse, the court also notes that Germany’s constitution guarantees freedom of opinion and freedom of the press even to to the “enemies of freedom” (Judge Kraft). One wonders how many people said the same thing in 1930 only to find themselves in a Nazi concentration camp in 1940!
Goebbels could hardly be happier if he only could see that his words (written in 1935) would be adhered to with such perfection – it will always remain one of the best jokes of democracy that it provided its mortal enemies with the means by which it was destroyed.
In 2025, Goebbles’ joke is kindly re-supplied by Germany’s administrative court. Germany’s court has provided its mortal enemies with the means with which German Neo-Nazis can destroy democracy.
Worryingly, the court considered Compact’s hate speech and distortions on:
- Germany’s Corona measures: most likely Compact is still awaiting the much trumpeted “Corona dictatorship;
- The war in Ukraine: for Compact, this is not Russia’s war. It is just a war “in” the Ukraine – Russia, the attacker, magically disappears from the crime scene;
- Conspiracy theories: Compact conjures up far right hallucination; and
- Historical revisions: for example, when the AfD’s Maximilian Krah praises SS officers.
With such a decisive broadside againt democracy and the German government, the formidable Elsässer enjoyed his nationwide media attention at the administrative court.
Elsässer was in a festive mood selling his Nazi ideology as much as possible. He can now present himself as “the winner” against the much-hated democratic government.
Now, the Neo-Nazi can run Compact with renewed media attention. This is likely to put a lot of money into his coffers and, thereby, supporting Germany’s Neo-Nazis.
The court created a serious belittling of German Neo-Nazism. Yet, the Neo-Nazis’ victory was also a fatal sign. It further normalizes, if not, mainstreams Neo-Nazism.
The court’s disastrous decision reaches far beyond the fate of one single Neo-Nazi propaganda outlet. Ideologically, and organisationally, it cranks up the far right populist and neo-fascist AfD and adjacent Neo-Nazi organisations in Germany.
For petit liberals in Germany, the court’s decision depicts “confidence in the power of free social debate”. For Neo-Nazis, this is something to be used on the way to dictatorial power.
The AfD’s intimdations, bullying and frequent shouting matches in German parliaments are a precursor to this. To them, the much-acclaimed “free social debate” is a platform for neo-fascist propaganda with the goal of the total anhiliation of the enemy. The enemy is democracy.
Supported by Germany’s state and with renewed confidence, Compact can now distribute its Neo-Nazi content in print and online editions, on social media and in videos.
This is a content that is plastered with anti-Semitic, racist, revisionist in history, sparring far right conspiracy fantasies, and Neo-Nazi ideologies.
The incitement of hate and violence against dissenters and outspoken rivals are the order of the day in Compact. This Neo-Nazi agitation is directed against the liberal-democratic order and against anyone not fitting into its beloved Aryan Volksgemeinschaft.
Tellingly, “we want to overthrow the regime” Compact wrote once when advocating direct action against democracy.
Beyond that, migrants are defamed as “uncultured barbarians” implying that non-Aryan people are uncivilised and a danger to the glory of “German culture”. This is the “culture” of Hitler’s SS and concentration camps.
On much of this, one of Germany’s finest philosophers – Adorno – once noted that Nazism is the culture of “barbarism” and “to write a poem after Auschwitz is barbaric”.
The ideology behind this barbaric (un)culture of Nazism is paraded in Compact. In 2018, Compact Führer Elsässer made this clear when writing, “the task of the opposition media is to contribute to the overthrow of the regime, and we are going shoulder to shoulder in this”.
To German Neo-Nazis, Elsässer’s “shoulder to shoulder” alludes to Hitler’s infamous “in uns marschiert Deutschland” speech as well as to one of the Nazi’s most menacing marching songs, “SA Marschiert”.
The statement of the Compact Führer testifies to Compact’s Neo-Nazism. It leaves no doubt, “we want to overthrow Germany’s regime” [read: to establish a dictatorship]. Compact boss Elsässer said this in 2023 at a fund-raising gala. This came in unison with:
- Compact lawyer Ulrich Vosgerau, who was a participant at the infamous Potsdam Remigration [read: Wannsee 2.0] meeting [read: the ethnic cleansing of Germany from all non-Aryans],
- Laurens Nothdurft who was once a staunch Neo-Nazi member of the HDJ outfit, and
- Fabian Walser.
Far right laywers like Walser seek to make hate speech sounding like “merely expressions of opinions” and therefore, “unproblematic”. In the Compact court case, it worked – to perfection.
This so-called “unproblematic” [read: hate] speech can now – again – be broadcasted on Compact-TV on YouTube with a whopping 515,000 subscribers and to the 81,000 followers on Campact’s Telegram outfit.
Compact’s Neo-Nazi propaganda machine insinuates that there is something Neo-Nazis call a “cold genocide of the German Volk” [read: Volksgemeinschaft]. It conveys the Neo-Nazi conspiracy fantasy of a so-called “great replacement” – the replacement of Aryans by the Untermensch.
In these ideological fabulations, there is an (always!) secret elite. These conspiracy fantasies are usually spiced up with plenty anti-Semitic. Some of which carry connotations to anti-Semitism, often personified by George Soros.
Again, Compact’s rampant anti-Semitism tells the farytale of a replacement of the supposedly white-Christian “Stammvolk” [read: Aryan race] by non-Aryan migrants.
This is the storyline on which modern right-wing extremism, Neo-Nazism as well as the success of the neo-fascist AfD and adjacent far right populist parties is based on.
In Germany, Compact imagines this as “The Blue Wave” [read: a modernized brown-shirt wave of Hitler’s SA]. It aids the dream of once again owning the street as in “Die Strasse frei, SA marschiert!”.
To achieve this, the Neo-Nazi outfit Compact openly supports Germany’s most successful Neo-Nazi party – the AfD – in election campaigns and elsewhere.
Belittled by the court, Compact and the neo-fascist AfD have been pursuing their ideological agenda directed against the democratic system for years.
Worse, Compact has created a kind of national front in cahoots with various far right media channels.
With this Neo-Nazi propaganda strategy, it pursues the goal of uniting different right-wing extremist camps – far beyond the already established party – the neo-fascist AfD.
The ideology of Compact and its Neo-Nazis-nationalistic rhetoric ranges from:
- The relentless denigration of globalization,
- The ideological fight against NATO because of its adoration of the semi-dictator Putin,
- fighing the ever-illusive elites and, of course,
- combating migration policy as this imports non-Aryans into their racially purified Volksgemeinschaft.
The AfD’s fascist Führer – Björn Höcke who can officially be called a Nazi and a Fascist – is already labeled “the chancellor of peace” by Compact. Björn Höcke is neither chancellor nor a man of peace.
That the Compact ban has now been lifted sends a very powerful signal to AfD-Führer Björn Höcke, Germany’s extreme right and adjacent Neo-Nazis. It strengthens them in their far-right cultural struggle.
Since years, Compact has been the prime media outlet for this ideological struggle and for the normalisation of Neo-Nazism in Germany.
Beyond that, Compact has also taken on an ideological bridging function in the radicalisation of certain section of the German population. It is sawing doubt about the liberal-constitutional state while inflaming anti-democratic resentment.
Unsurprisingly, Germany’s Auschwitz Committee was “disappointed” with the Compact verdict. The International Auschwitz Committee reacted with displeasure to the verdict in the prohibition proceedings against Compact.
Much of this is a revealing example of a democracy that is – again – naive about the cunningness of its opponents. The verdict came at a time when survivors of the Holocaust experience – again – the rise of anti-Semitic sentiments and the brazen actions of Neo-Nazi publicists.
In his victory speech after the verdict, Compact Führer Jürgen Elsässer spoke of “full gas”. Every Neo-Nazi understands what the term “gas” means in this context.
With the verdict, German Neo-Nazis can now proudly speak of “gassing” – which is now being backed up by one of Germany’s highest courts.
Photo: (source: German Public TV https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/gesellschaft/compact-urteil-100.html)
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