The German government funds training manuals for ‘Antifa’ activists while Trump and Orbán declare the group a ‘terrorist organization

While several European countries have begun classifying Antifa as a terrorist organization, Germany has taken the opposite path: funding it with public money. An investigation by journalist Stefan Frank in the outlet Achse des Guten (“Axis of Good”) reveals that the German federal government, through its Ministry of Family, Seniors, Women, and Youth, financed in 2024 a training manual for antifascist activists, described by Frank as a genuine “guide for Antifa thugs.”

The document, titled “Nazis Hate These Tricks: 20 Reflections on How to Fight Right-Wing Extremism,” was published under the state program “Democratie Leben!” (“Live Democracy”), officially presented as educational. However, the text itself makes clear its militant purpose: it is addressed to “Dear colleagues, dear antifascists,” and claims to be based on the collective experience of the antifascist movement.

Within its pages, the pamphlet justifies the use of violence and defends Antifa’s role against those who, according to its authors, “want to demonize and delegitimize” their cause. “Antifascism is absolutely necessary,” the document proclaims, directly referencing criticism from Donald Trump, who attempted to designate Antifa a terrorist organization, and from former German intelligence chief Hans-Georg Maaßen, who called for its ban.

The controversy does not end there. The outlet Nius revealed that the German government also granted over €70,000 in subsidies to the publisher Unrast, responsible for the book “Tips and Tricks for Antifas and Anti-Racists,” published in 2023. The volume, featuring the Antifa logo on its cover, includes recommendations on using defensive weapons—such as pepper sprays, telescopic batons, stun guns, and gas pistols—as well as instructions for throwing objects from occupied buildings or organizing “shards-of-glass demonstrations,” in which storefronts and private property are destroyed.

The reference to “shards-of-glass demos” inevitably evokes Kristallnacht, the “Night of Broken Glass” in 1938, when the Nazi brownshirts destroyed Jewish businesses across Germany.

The subsidies were granted by the Commissioner for Culture and Media of the German government, currently under CDU control, the party of Chancellor Friedrich Merz. On its official portal, the office describes Unrast as a publisher dedicated to antifascist and feminist social theory, as well as politically oriented novels and comics.

These revelations have caused outrage both inside and outside Germany, where critics warn that the state is funding radical groups with a history of street violence, while repressing conservative and patriotic movements under accusations of “right-wing extremism.”

Journalist Stefan Frank summarizes the paradox with irony: “While Germany prides itself on combating extremism, its own government pays those who practice it in the name of democracy.”