Angelique Geray, journalist infiltrated among German neo-Nazis: What surprised me most is that these young people are serious'

"They are teenagers, or young adults barely over the age of 20, but above all, far-right radicals who dream of Day X, the day it all begins, the day they will massacre immigrants. Germans who go to school, attend training programs, or work far removed from the neo-Nazi stereotype of skinheads in bomber jackets and who then immerse themselves in far-right extremist movements that speak of a pure people, downplay the Holocaust, and hate migrants, but now also direct their anger at feminists and the LGBTQ+ community."

"German investigative journalist Angelique Geray, 33, decided to infiltrate these groups between 2024 and 2025 to understand how they become radicalized. I wanted to find out why right-wing extremism is once again presenting itself as a kind of cult or youth trend, she explained earlier this month in a cafe in southern Berlin after publishing her experience in a book titled Undercover unter Nazis (Undercover Among Nazis). Authorities have been warning about this phenomenon for some time."

"Right-wing extremists use forums and platforms like Telegram, Instagram, and TikTok to recruit new, increasingly younger followers, whom they invite to private chat groups. Intelligence services warn of a new generation of neo-Nazis, and in 2025 they registered more than 5,300 young people mostly between the ages of 14 and 17 who allegedly committed far-right-motivated crimes."

"This isn't the first time Geray has infiltrated these circles. She did so in 2018 with the so-called Reichsburger (Citizens of the Reich) movement, which rejects the existence of the Federal Republic of Germany and whose leaders were arrested in 2022 for plotting a coup. It was then that she developed her cover identity, that of Isabell, a young woman with an inner resentment, who is dissatisfied with Germany. Under that name, she later infiltrated the Identitare Bewegung (Identity Movement) and, in 2024, the Junge Nationalisten (Young Nationalists, JN) and Letzte Verteidigungswelle (Last Wave of D"

Young Germans and barely adult recruits join far-right extremist movements through school, training, and work settings that differ from older neo-Nazi stereotypes. Investigative infiltration between 2024 and 2025 shows how radicalization develops into a cult-like youth trend. Right-wing extremists recruit increasingly younger followers using forums and platforms such as Telegram, Instagram, and TikTok, then move them into private chat groups. Intelligence services warn of a new generation of neo-Nazis, with thousands of young people aged 14 to 17 registered for far-right-motivated crimes in 2025. The movements promote ideas of a pure people, downplay the Holocaust, and direct hatred toward migrants, feminists, and the LGBTQ+ community.

Read at english.elpais.com