For Reich and Volksgemeinschaft—Against the World Conspiracy: Antisemitism and Sovereignism in the Federal Republic of Germany Since 1945

Abstract:Sovereignists are convinced that states in which they live are not sovereign as they are secretly controlled by a foreign power. They strive for pseudo-state, individual, and/or group-specific sovereignty. Authorities in Germany have only been systematically observing sovereignist groups for a few years. Since the founding of the Federal Republic in 1949, right-wing extremist sovereignist groups have been disseminating the idea that the state was part of a "Jewish world conspiracy" against the German volk. Their leaders not only advocate for the restoration of German sovereignty (as a German Reich or by establishing new German states), but also deny the Holocaust and want to liberate themselves from the "New World Order." Based on the analysis of statements by key participants, this article demonstrates that antisemitism has been a central ideological element within German sovereignism.