‘Dark Nazi secrets’ of German elite soldier

IT HAS all the trappings of an airport thriller: an elite soldier in Germany’s special forces gains a reputation as a selfless philanthropist for setting up an organisation that helps veterans of Germany’s secretive special forces adjust to civilian life.

But underneath this veneer he is covertly prepping a crack team of exsoldiers and stockpiling weapons ready to execute a list of politicians when the right time arrives. This is no pulp fiction though. The accusations made against Andre S – known by his code name “Hannibal” – by a string of German publications is bringing a dark tale to life and revealing how little Germany knows about its most elite troops.

According to reports, special forces soldiers who Hannibal meets through his charitable work are silently enlisted into this “shadow army” of extremists.

The astonishing claims, made by Focus, a news magazine, earlier this month, are sourced from inside knowledge of a federal investigation into the “prepper” scene – a rag-tag association of conspiracy theorists who believe the end of society as we know it is nigh. Since the arrest of Franco Albrecht, a senior lieutenant in the Bundeswehr on charges of planning an act of terrorism in 2016, the country has been shaken by the possibility that neo-Nazis have infiltrated its armed forces.

There is also evidence to suggest that Hannibal has been helped by people higher up in the Bundeswehr. A member of the army’s internal intelligence unit is on trial for tipping him off to raids against members of his group. Despite the drip-drip of leaks, the Defence Ministry insists its army is clean.