Conspiratorial extremists suspected of founding fake Jewish organizations
According to a public media report, people connected to the extremist 'Reichsbürger' scene have founded fake Jewish nonprofits in Germany. Their intentions remain unclear, yet their efforts may not have been illegal.For centuries, Jews have debated what it means to be one. One thing all Jews can probably agree on is that a connection to extremists with antisemitic views and aims to overthrow the German republic is a disqualifier.
But that hasn't stopped some from trying.
At least ten associations calling themselves Jewish received official, nonprofit status, only to be revealed to have links to Germany's "Reichsbürger" (literally, "citizens of the German Empire"
scene.
ARD, the German public broadcaster that first reported the story, spoke to self-proclaimed "chief rabbi" Iwan Götz, a known fraudster with Reichsbürger links. The 75-year-old from the northeastern German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania appears to be behind several of the so-called Jewish associations, according to the report.
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