The Roots of Right Extremism: Trial by Fire for an Aspiring Neo-Nazi

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Teich's language is that of a trained right-wing extremist. His sentences sound as if they were taken from a manual for up-and-coming Nazis. He talks about the "regime of the Federal Republic of Germany" and the "system press." He also claims that the NPD is too middle-class for his tastes, and that he prefers the left wing of the (Nazi paramilitary group) SA.

He is soft-spoken and offers little indication of the brutality of which he is capable. He was convicted of aggravated battery in 2005. "We wiped out a pedophile," he says, because, as he claims, the courts didn't do their job. He explains that he was a skinhead at the time, and he says that he still doesn't regret his actions.

Sometimes Teich and his friends walk around in Zossen, armed with sticks and clubs, shouting and drunkenly painting swastikas on walls. Or they hang out at Anita's Snackbar at the train station, where an NPD friend who is also being investigated works as a waiter. Anyone who looks closely enough can recognize the SS runes in the word "IMBISS" (snack bar) printed on the front of the building.

For state security officials, Teich is a key figure in the right-wing extremist scene. He announces neo-Nazi marches, conducts training programs and knows Horst Mahler, a lawyer who has represented the NPD in court. He often visited Holocaust denier Rainer Link, who moved to Zossen in 2006. Link ran an Internet café on the market square where young members of the NPD and the FKTF would meet. When "stumbling blocks" -- small brass plaques embedded in the sidewalk to mark where Jewish victims lived prior to the Holocaust -- were laid in front of his house in November 2008, Link placed beer crates over the plaques. Later, they were sprayed with swastikas.

Death Threats

But the young Nazis abruptly ended their relationship with the older Nazi when they discovered hardcore pornography on his computers. On Nov. 30, Link was found dead in his apartment. He had committed suicide. The apartment was sealed off, but it was burglarized a short time later and the thieves took along computers. Teich was one of them.

Since the spring of 2009, the neo-Nazis finally have a concrete enemy they can fight, a citizens' initiative of committed people called "Zossen Shows Its Face." The head of the group is insurance broker Jörg Wanke, who is determined not to allow the right-wing extremists to gain any ground. The initiative is causing a stir in the quiet little city of 17,000. It makes people uncomfortable, so uncomfortable, in fact, that Mayor Michaela Schreiber, an independent, has distanced herself from the citizens' initiative. It is too far to the left for her taste, and she is concerned about the potential for violence between left-wing and right-wing extremists.

Since the leftists came on the scene, crimes committed by right-wing extremists have been on the rise in Zossen. Teich has launched a form of urban warfare against Wanke. On July 5, 2009, he sprayed the words "traitor of the people" and "leftist pig" on Wanke's office building, and in August he wrote "Wanke will die soon" and "Zossen stays brown" onto a wall.

It was summer, and Daniel S. was spending more and more time with the neo-Nazis, often going to their hangout on a square in front of the Rewe supermarket in Zossen. He liked the way the right-wing extremists treated each other. Teich kept his distance at first. "He's nuts -- he gets on my nerves," he said, referring to Daniel S. Daniel felt the rejection. "They told me that I didn't know enough," he says.

Unemployed, Broke and Carless

But Teich eventually came around. "I explained a few things to him," gave him a bit of training, he says casually. In September, Daniel was finally allowed to take part in one of the Neo-Nazi group's marches on the market square in Zossen.

The House of Democracy opened its doors in the same month, despite the right-wing attacks. Zossen's citizens refused to be intimidated by the neo-Nazis. A few days later, the building was burglarized. Teich and a "comrade" ransacked the building and emptied the contents of a fire extinguisher inside, a spontaneous act committed while drunk, as he later said when he was questioned.

Teich was long a role model for Daniel S. The neo-Nazi was unemployed, broke and without a car, and an errand boy was just what he needed. Daniel S. asked Teich what he could do to help him. He would bring his Führer food, and after a dispute with his father, he moved into the empty apartment next to Teich's apartment. When Teich found out about several burglaries Daniel had committed, he shouted at him and told him not to ruin his life. Teich, who had had his own encounters with the law, even called the police, which sent officers to question Daniel S.

By then, the 16-year-old belonged to the group, or at least he almost belonged. He played computer strategy games with the neo-Nazis, games that involved capturing the White House and the German parliament building, the Reichstag. But Teich did not reveal any sensitive information to his apprentice, who was allowed to read a few flyers, but nothing more.

Burning Down the Shithouse

In January, the group met in front of the Rewe supermarket again. Insurance broker Wanke and his citizens' initiative planned to hold a rally on Jan. 27, International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The right-wing extremists discussed how they might interrupt the left-wing group's event.

We should burn down that shithouse, Daniel supposedly said. Teich apparently responded that Daniel didn't have the guts to do it. But the boy saw his opportunity. He had dreamed of a "ticket into the movement," as one of the neo-Nazis later put it. And he knew that his friend Teich had already been in the building once before.

Daniel asked for a floorplan of the building, but Teich was probably too smart to give him something in writing. Teich incited him to do it, Daniel later said during questioning, and even drew a sketch for him. Teich says that all he did was draw an outline on the table with his finger to show Daniel what the room dimensions looked like in the House of Democracy, and which window was easy to open. This was his chance to show that he had real cojones, Teich supposedly said. The neo-Nazi leader claims that the discussions lasted several evenings, discussions of ways to go about doing it. Nevertheless, he says, they were nothing but war games, and he never believed that Daniel was capable of carrying out the plan.

But Daniel wanted to be more than a hanger-on. He wanted to belong, finally, and he drew his own sketch. The next day he set out to complete his task.

Part of the Movement

On Jan. 22, at 2 p.m., Daniel showed up at Teich's door with a backpack and the bottle of gasoline. They played on the computer, and at about 8 p.m., Daniel said goodbye. He took the bus to Zossen, where he met four friends at the train station and, not able to keep his mouth shut, told them what he was about to do.

Originally, he had intended to wait until 2 a.m. to set the fire, but it was too cold. Instead, he broke into the building at 10 p.m. By the time it was on fire, Daniel was already on his way home. He threw away his gloves and walked to Mellensee, a one-and-a-half hour walk, during which he finally came to believe that he was truly part of the movement.

When he heard about the fire in the news the next morning, Daniel was surprised to see that the entire house had burned down. He hadn't considered it possible. He asks his father whether he had heard the news.

Teich learned about the fire on that same night. A few e-mails were sent, e-mails to announce the successful arson attack. "It made me feel good," he says. But Teich didn't go to the scene of the crime. He knew that things were about to get serious, and that he too could be implicated. He knew that Daniel wouldn't be able to keep his mouth shut.

Bars on the Windows

The boy knocked for a long time before Teich finally opened his door three days later. He stood in front of him and bragged about what he had done. Teich says that Daniel seemed truly happy.

The 16-year-old was arrested soon afterwards. One of his new, false friends had squealed on him. He was taken to the town of Fürstenwalde, to a facility for youths where he will be kept until the trial. A psychologist is currently preparing his report.

The investigation is directed against six presumed culprits and confidants, including Teich, but he remains at large. Charges are expected to be brought in a few weeks. Meanwhile, the citizens' initiative is building a new House of Democracy. It will be a solid, stone building, and there will be bars on the windows.

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