It is June 21, 2025, and like every year, the Greiz AfD district association is celebrating its summer festival. Björn Höcke is invited, but he doesn't drive there directly, instead taking a detour that adds two hours to his travel time. After Grimma, to the H. family - this means the wife and daughter of the imprisoned suspected right-wing terrorist Kurt H., who was arrested by a GSG 9 commando in November 2024 and has been in custody ever since.
Why? Because he is said to have been a member of the terrorist organization “Saxon Separatists”, which, according to the Federal Prosecutor's Office, wanted to establish a National Socialist state by force of arms.
The Federal Prosecutor's Office describes the separatists as a "militant group whose ideology was shaped by racist, anti-Semitic and partly apocalyptic ideas. Its members were united by a deep rejection of the free-democratic basic order of the Federal Republic of Germany."
H. was formerly an AfD city councilor in Grimma, treasurer of the AfD party youth in Saxony, an AfD district executive in Leipzig and an employee of an AfD member of the state parliament. Höcke has sympathy for H., he took a group photo with him in 2022 on the Grimma market square.
A few hours later, on the small stage in the Greiz castle garden, he talks about what the visit to H.'s family means to him. How the whole thing upsets him. Why it makes him angry that H. has to sit in prison. You can watch a video of the speech on the Internet. Höcke shouts: "I have become a victim of political justice myself! This state, this constitutional state, will certainly no longer be a fully developed constitutional state in 2025!"
For him, the H. family from Grimma is further evidence of his thesis. "What a decent family! Friends, I have the impression that there is a young, decent family that has been treated badly. The AfD members who were busted there in a concerted action were, I heard today, only added to this indictment after the state elections. Sorry, that stinks to high heaven! Could it possibly be that they wanted to prevent the CDU and AfD from getting closer in Saxony with this coup?"
Höcke says that H. was falsely accused in order to prevent cooperation between the CDU and AfD after the Saxon state elections. The election was in September 2024, H. was arrested in November. He would therefore be the pawn of a corrupt regime that does not shy away from imprisoning innocent people in order to keep an opposition party out of power. But Höcke isn't quite sure yet. He says: "Don't get me wrong. I don't know the details. But it has a flavor!"
It is now June 17, 2026, almost a year later, the anniversary of the popular uprising against the GDR regime. There's a video of that too. Höcke stands in a dark suit on the green strip between the sidewalk and the street in front of the Thuringian State Office for the Protection of the Constitution and speaks at a small rally: "For me, the fate of the so-called 'Saxon Separatists' is bitter. These are young people who have thought about what will happen if this state collapses at some point, and there are signs that it will collapse at some point; who have thought about what I will do with myself and my young family. Boy Fathers, in custody for two years, for nothing.”
So Höcke says three things he believes in. First: A collapse of our society is becoming apparent. Secondly, there is nothing wrong with preparing for it. Third: The separatists have not done anything bad, just “nothing,” and are still in prison for it.
Quote from a statement from the Federal Prosecutor's Office: "The 'Saxon Separatists' were convinced that there was no doubt that Germany was on the verge of 'collapse' and that state and social collapse would occur on an, albeit as yet undetermined, 'Day Federal Republic is also planned to remove undesirable groups of people - especially members of ethnic minorities and political opponents - from the area through ethnic cleansing.
According to the federal prosecutor's office, the separatists practiced urban warfare, shooting with sharp weapons and patrolling. They bought combat helmets, gas masks and protective vests. Machetes, radio sets, Nazi memorabilia and 30 kilograms of ammunition were found in the group's inventory.
Three of the suspected separatists were AfD members: Kurt H., Kevin R. and Hans-Georg P., they come from the Leipzig area. After their arrest, the AfD immediately revoked their membership rights, but it was never made public whether they were also excluded. Apparently the arbitration proceedings with the Saxon AfD are still ongoing, the F.A.S. received no answer to this question from the AfD.
Höcke, on the other hand, addresses the issue openly: "It was a wrong decision on the part of my party that the AfD members of the so-called 'Saxon Separatists' were subjected to party regulatory measures in premature obedience. In a constitutional state, the presumption of innocence applies, and as a party based on the rule of law, we have to put this at the top. I will do my best in this party to ensure that this wrong decision is corrected and that the so-called 'Saxon Separatists' are given legal aid They are victims of justice!”
Höcke not only criticizes pre-trial detention, he wants legal help for the accused, which means paying their legal bills. And he wants to make men accused of being armed neo-Nazi terrorists full members of his party again. The F.A.S. asked AfD leader Tino Chrupalla what he thought about it, but got no answer. Chrupalla does not contradict Höcke.
Höcke continues to talk, calmly but noticeably indignant: "If I take all of this together: the abuse of the domestic secret service, which unfortunately - and of course comparisons are always flawed - follows a bad tradition; the abuse of those in power by or with the NGO complex; the political justice system - then I would like to conclude by asking the question: Is this still a democracy? Or is this a new type of dictatorship in which we live?"
This question is tough. If Germany were a dictatorship, as Höcke suggests, one could say: self-defense is justified, even in armed form.
It is June 20, 2026, exactly one year later. Again it's the summer festival in Greiz, again Höcke is standing in the castle garden, again he's wearing a tight white shirt and blue jeans, again he's taking a detour via Grimma before the speech. He sits on the sofa with H.'s daughter and later talks about it: "I took exactly the same tour today as I did last year to get a report: How is this legal process going?" When he hears the word “constitutional,” Höcke puts quotation marks in the air with his fingers.
Again he tells his theory that the putsch plan was fabricated when a CDU-AfD government threatened in Saxony. "What happened then? An attack by the federal police on a house in Saxony. And interestingly, the Saxon police knew nothing about the federal police attack. A rogue who thinks evil of it."
The F.A.S. asked the Saxon Ministry of the Interior. Answer: "The Police Terrorism and Extremism Defense Center of the Saxony State Criminal Police Office was informed in advance of the executive measures taken by the federal authorities on November 5, 2024 against members of the 'Saxon Separatists' group and supported the implementation of the operation with eleven police forces."
Höcke continues speaking. He cannot believe how H. was treated: "And then, in a surprise operation that is normally only carried out when they are really terrorists who threaten life and limb and the security of the state, a young man was arrested and he was also shot in the jaw, a man (...) who had never harmed a fly in his life."
A statement from the Federal Prosecutor's Office states: "During his arrest, Kurt H. pointed a loaded and unlocked rifle at a police officer in order to shoot him. This did not happen because the police officer concerned previously fired shots from his service weapon in resistance. The shots hit the accused in the face and shoulder area and rendered him unable to act."
One thing particularly bothers Höcke: that the reference to the separatists came from abroad. The American federal police FBI came across a chat group in which neo-Nazis were planning armed struggle - and informed the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution. The Germans then infiltrated an undercover agent into the chat group and collected information that led to the arrest. Höcke: “That stinks to high heaven!”
Höcke wants people involved in the process to resist. The presiding judge at the Dresden Higher Regional Court and the representative of the Federal Prosecutor's Office should refuse to take part. To do this, he addressed her by her full name (he apparently made a mistake when it came to the Federal Prosecutor and gave the wrong name): “Remember that as a civil servant you have the right to protest at any time, and remember that at some point you will have to answer for yourself. At the latest before the person up there.”
