— Officials here and in Munich are in dispute over whether a teen-aged group in Bavaria that conducts paramilitary exercises is a successor to the outlawed “Wehrsports-gruppe Hoffman,” an overt neo-Nazi organization that masqueraded as a sports club. The group, which calls itself the “Bundeswehr Fan Club,” has been drilling in uniform for several months in the Neuburg area on the Danube River.
It has been labeled neo-Nazi by Alex Wernitz, chairman of the Bundestag’s Interior Affairs Committee, and by Karl-Heinz Hiersemann, vice president of the Social Democratic Party (SDP)
faction in the Bavarian state parliament. Observers and officials of various parties have suggested that the “Fan Club” is trying to recruit members and supporters of the Hoffmann group.
But Gerold Tandler, the Bavarian Minister of Interior, insists there is no evidence supporting that claim. “Up to now we have no information that this group is a politically motivated organization nor do we have information on contacts between the group and neo-Nazi activists, Tandler said. Nevertheless, the Bavarian state authorities have promised to keep an eye on Fan Club activities.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
