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Nazi memorabilia

German far-right soldier feigns identity of Syrian Jewish refugee

Police believe Lt. Franco lived a double life, posing as a Jewish refugee and planning to carry out a political assassination to ratchet up hysteria about refugees; police fear he established a Nazi cell in the army.

A German military officer, who identifies with the far-right, is suspected of impersonating a Syrian refugee with the alleged intention of assassinating a political figures.

 

 

Police arrested a third person in the strange affair that has rocked Germany over the past two weeks. According to suspicions, the officer planned to assassinate a political figure and leave traces that would lead to his fictitious identity—and thus lay the blame on the refugees.

 

(Photo: Yedioth Ahronoth)
(Photo: Yedioth Ahronoth)

 

The affair began with the arrest of Lt. Franco A., 28, last month. At the end of 2015, the officer succeeded in deceiving the German authorities and receiving the status of a Syrian Jewish refugee under the pseudonym "David Benjamin," even though he did not speak Arabic at all.

 

In February of this year, Franco was arrested after planting a loaded pistol in the Vienna airport's bathroom. After the police examined the officer's fingerprints, the identity of the Syrian refugee popped up, revealing the enormity and intricacy of the affair.

 

In the investigation, a diary containing a list of potential targets for an attack was found. Investigators also discovered that Franco was not working alone.

 

Another detainee in the case was named as Matthias P., a 24-year-old student suspected of assisting in planning the attacks. The second detainee, Lt. Maximilian T., who serves with Franco on the same base, is suspected of helping him manage his double life and was a partner in his plans.

 

During the course of the investigation, collectibles of the Nazi army were discovered at Franco and Maximilian's base.

 

After similar items were found in another base, the German Chief of Staff Volker Wieker ordered an extensive search for Nazi memorabilia in all military buildings across Germany.

 

"We must assume that a terrorist cell has developed within the ranks of the army," said the chairman of the Social Democratic Party Thomas Oppermann. "As things look, over the years, an extremist right-wing group established itself under the radar and planned terrorist attacks."

 

(Translated and edited by N. Elias) 

 


פרסום ראשון: 05.10.17, 21:15
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