After the sabotage: Police hunt invisible far-left

TT

Published 05.45

           

           

          In early January, Berlin was hit by a massive power outage. Archive photo.

         1 / 2Photo: Sebastian Gollnow/AP/TT

The Russian threat is growing. At the same time, Germany is grappling with a wave of far-left sabotage against the country's infrastructure.

The authorities are facing a divided movement that is acting in political isolation.

In January, Berlin was hit by what is being called the largest blackout in the city since World War II. Around 45,000 households and 2,000 businesses lost power. Among those affected were five hospitals and 66 nursing homes.

Andreas Thomsen is one whose life was in danger, writes Politico. The 68-year-old suffers from the neurological disease ALS and was close to death when his respirator stopped working during the several-hour interruption caused by an attack.

The Shadow of Russia

The so-called “Volcano Group” claimed responsibility for the attack, but the incident was not an isolated case. Since 2011, the police have been trying to track down various networks of left-wing extremists who are carrying out extensive sabotage against German infrastructure.

“Volcano Group” is a label used by loose groups without any organized connection to each other. The movement describes itself as technophobic, where digitalization is seen as a tool for state control. According to Simon Teune, a doctor of political sociology at the Freie Universität Berlin, the groups share an anarchist ideology.

“We don’t really know who they really are, but they are probably a small group of very experienced people,” he says.

Despite 15 years of mapping, the authorities have failed to infiltrate the groups. One explanation is that the Russian threat has stolen the focus. Germany’s Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt has pointed to Moscow as a possible actor – despite the lack of evidence.

The January attack was ultimately a turning point in Germany, where desperation is now growing. The authorities have offered a reward of one million euros for information.

Isolated cells

Simon Teune says that while violent acts by the far-right often rely on broader support within their own political sphere, the far-left groups act more isolated.

– There is no environment there that supports and legitimizes this type of action. On the contrary. There is hardly anyone who says that it was a good idea to organize these attacks.

Teune does not believe that the effects of the January attack were desired, even by the perpetrators themselves. The fact that people such as ALS patient Andreas Thomsen were affected was probably not according to plan.

– The idea was to shut down a specific power plant and at the same time turn off the lights in affluent areas of Berlin, but those who were hit hardest were those who lived in high-rise buildings – people who were poor, says Simon Teune.