He introduced himself as a Syrian refugee in broken English, explaining that he had traveled by foot across half the continent and lost his documents. The officers took his photograph and fingerprints. In the following year, he would receive shelter, an asylum hearing, and monthly benefits. He identified himself as David Benjamin. He was actually a lieutenant in the German army, but disguised himself with makeup and shoe polish to make it seem like he was a refugee. The prosecutors claim that this was part of a far-right plan to commit assassinations and cause civil unrest in Germany. The officer, known as Franco A in court documents, denies these allegations. He claims he was attempting to reveal weaknesses in the asylum process, but his intricate deception, spanning 16 months, was exposed when he was apprehended by police while trying to retrieve a concealed loaded handgun from an airport restroom in Vienna. Aydan Ozoguz, a lawmaker who was in charge of refugees and integration, described the incident as a shocking moment, questioning how someone like Franco A could serve as a soldier in Germany. The arrest of Franco A in April 2017 shocked Germany. Since then, there has been little attention on his case, but that will likely change when he goes to trial early next year. When he does, Germany will also be put on trial for allowing a German officer to pose as a refugee despite not speaking Arabic, and for its historical indifference towards combating far-right extremism. The investigation into Franco A's case revealed a complex network of extremist groups within Germany's security services that was larger than previously thought. The New York Times reported on two groups in Germany that were involved in suspicious activities, including hoarding weapons, keeping enemy lists, and ordering body bags. One group was led by a former soldier and police sniper, while the other was run by a special-forces soldier known as Hannibal, who focused on Germany's elite force, the KSK. Following the discovery of explosives and SS memorabilia on the property of a sergeant major, an entire KSK unit was disbanded. The author interviewed members of these networks, including Franco A., over the past year. Franco A.'s story, from a promising officer to a suspected terrorist, reflects the dual nature of modern Germany. One nation was shaped by its defeat in World War II and nurtured by a liberal agreement that shunned nationalism and taught its people to feel remorse. This country, Germany, is now evolving into a more uncertain society as its past fades and a previously inactive far right movement emerges in response to a changing population. The stability of Germany's postwar consensus is now at risk. When I initially encountered Franco A over a year ago at a restaurant in Berlin, he arrived with various documents, including notes and excerpts from his police record, appearing self-assured at the time. A terrorism case against him was dismissed by a Frankfurt court due to insufficient evidence. However, the Supreme Court reinstated the case upon appeal by prosecutors several months later. Franco A contacted me on my mobile phone, expressing his distress. If found guilty, he could be sentenced to a maximum of 10 years in prison. Even though his trial was pending, he agreed to a series of exclusive recorded interviews and invited me and two New York Times audio producers to his childhood home, where he still resides, to discuss his life, his beliefs, and various aspects of his case. I visited multiple times over the next year, most recently the week before Christmas. On occasion, he would share videos of himself in refugee disguise. Once, he guided us down a creaky stairwell, through a secure metal door, into his "prepper" cellar, where he had hidden ammunition and a copy of Hitler's "Mein Kampf" before they were taken by the police. Franco A denies any involvement in a terrorist plot. He claims that he pretended to be a refugee in order to expose Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision to admit over 1 million refugees into Germany, which he believed posed a threat to national security and identity. He believed that the system was unable to handle the influx of refugees, allowing anyone to enter the country. He maintained that he was defending the Constitution rather than undermining it, and emphasized that he never intended to commit any violent acts. He questioned why he would not have carried out violence if that was his intention. The prosecutors did not want to speak on the record, but their allegations can be found in the Supreme Court decision. They point to the loaded gun Franco A. had concealed at the Vienna airport, an illegal assault rifle he allegedly possessed, and a visit to the parking garage of a potential target. Additionally, they mention the numerous voice memos and diaries Franco A. had kept for years, which have been used as evidence in his prosecution. I have reviewed the transcripts in police reports and evidence files, where he expresses admiration for Hitler, questions Germany's repentance for the Holocaust, discusses global Jewish conspiracies, argues that immigration has damaged Germany's ethnic purity, praises President Vladimir Putin of Russia as a role model, and promotes the destruction of the state. Military uniforms found in Franco A's "prepper" basement in Offenbach, Germany on July 9, 2020, reflect his private thoughts that he believes cannot be prosecuted. While some of his extreme views are shared by neo-Nazis and far-right circles, his fundamental concerns about immigration and national identity are becoming more prevalent in contemporary Germany, Europe, and the United States. In the generation that grew up after the September 11, 2001 attacks, during the resulting wars and global economic crisis, distrust of government, far-right messaging, and belief in conspiracy theories have not only infiltrated certain branches of the security services but have also become more prevalent in society as a whole. According to Thomas Haldenwang, the president of Germany's domestic intelligence agency, far-right extremist views have become more mainstream, even reaching the halls of Parliament where the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is the leading opposition party. Haldenwang's agency is considering placing the entire AfD party under observation due to the perceived danger it poses, despite the party's claims of being defenders of the Constitution. The struggle for Germany's democracy is evident in the ongoing debate. In my interviews with Franco A., senior defense officials have shifted from casually addressing my questions about extremist networks to expressing serious concerns. In March 2019, I inquired with a defense ministry official about the number of far-right extremists in the military, and was surprised when he stated there were only four. Yes, four extremist networks were identified. He reported that they did not observe any networks. Prior to this year, German officials had ignored the issue. Despite detailing his extreme views in a master's thesis, Franco A.'s superiors still advanced his career. He joined several extremist networks that included many soldiers and police officers. He also made a public appearance at a far-right event that caught the attention of security services, but it was a janitor at the Vienna airport who ultimately exposed him. The janitor discovered a black, loaded gun hidden in a maintenance shaft in a disabled restroom at the airport, which turned out to be a rare 7.65-caliber Unique 17 made by a defunct French gunmaker between 1928 and 1944. The pistol became a popular choice among German officers during the Nazi occupation of France. To discover who had concealed it, the police set up an electronic trap. On February 3, 2017, they apprehended Franco A. as he attempted to access the hidden compartment using a tube of hair gel. A group of police officers quickly surrounded him with weapons drawn, and two officers in plain clothes entered the room to question him about his actions. Franco A. remembered saying, "I admitted to hiding a weapon here." He explained that he had returned to retrieve it and turn it over to the police. He recalled someone laughing when he mentioned this. The account he gave to Austrian police during questioning that night was considered highly unlikely, and he was initially hesitant to recount it when we spoke. However, he eventually did share the story. A photograph of Franco A. was taken during a ceremony at the Saint-Cyr military academy in France and at his home in Offenbach, Germany on July 9, 2020, as reported by The New York Times. He concealed it in order to not miss his flight, but later chose to go back and give it to the police. A picture of Franco A. was taken at a ceremony at the Saint-Cyr military academy in France, and at his residence in Offenbach, Germany on July 9, 2020. "I feel foolish admitting this," he said. "I am aware that no one believes me." Franco A. was released that evening. However, the officers retained his phone and a USB stick discovered in his backpack. They captured his fingerprints and forwarded them to German authorities for confirmation. The results, received weeks later, surprised the officers conducting what they believed to be a standard identity check on Franco. It was revealed that he had two identities. According to his ID, he was a German officer stationed at the Franco-German brigade in Illkirch, near Strasbourg. However, the fingerprints found on the gun belonged to a migrant who was registered near Munich, causing concern for investigators. It raised suspicions that Franco A. may have hidden the gun with intentions of carrying out an attack in the future. He was apprehended on the night of the annual fraternity ball, organized by Austria's far-right Freedom Party, which typically drew militant counterdemonstrators. One hypothesis was that Franco A. had plotted to shoot someone that evening while posing as a leftist. After German authorities took control of the investigation, they discovered two documents on his UBS stick: the “Mujahedeen Explosives Handbook” and “Total Resistance,” a guide for urban guerrilla warfare from the Cold War era. His cellphone led them to an extensive network of far-right Telegram chat groups involving soldiers, police officers, and others preparing for what they referred to as Day X, the collapse of social order. The phone also contained numerous audio memos in which Franco A. had documented his thoughts over several years. On April 26, 2017, during a military training exercise in a Bavarian forest, Franco A. was arrested once again, with ten federal police officers escorting him away. Ninety additional people were carrying out raids at the same time in Germany, Austria, and France. During these raids, law enforcement officers uncovered over 1,000 rounds of ammunition, as well as numerous handwritten notes and a diary. As they read through the materials, they uncovered a man who had held radical beliefs since his teenage years. In interviews with Franco A., he delved even further back in time, discussing his childhood and a family history that closely resembled Germany's own. Echoes of History Franco A purchased his first German flag when he was around 12 or 13 years old, during a family holiday in Bavaria. In most countries, this would be a simple souvenir purchase, but in postwar Germany, where national pride was shunned due to the country's Nazi history, it was seen as a rebellious act. Franco A explained that Germany has always held significance for him, as he showed us pictures of his childhood bedroom with the flag prominently displayed. Growing up in his working-class neighborhood, he did not see many German flags due to the presence of guest workers from southern Europe and Turkey who helped rebuild postwar Germany and influenced society. Franco A's mother, who lives upstairs from him, remembered having very few classmates with migrant backgrounds in the 1960s, while Franco A himself had an Italian guest worker father who left the family when he was young, leading Franco A to refer to him as his "producer" rather than his father. In one of his audio recordings from January 2016, Franco A later explained that he viewed the guest worker program as a deliberate tactic to weaken the German ethnicity. He considered himself to be a result of this twisted racial animosity. He mentioned that his grandfather was born in 1919, the year when the Treaty of Versailles was signed, marking Germany's defeat in World War I. This treaty led to the popular belief of the "stab in the back" legend, which claimed that Germany had actually won the war but was betrayed by a group of leftists and Jews in the ruling class. This propaganda contributed to the growth of anti-democratic factions within the military who stockpiled weapons, planned coups, and eventually supported the emergence of Nazism - similar to the accusations currently facing Franco A. He mentioned that his grandparents frequently looked after him, providing him with soup and sharing war stories with him. His grandfather recounted his experiences in the Hitler Youth, and the police seized a copy of "Mein Kampf" that belonged to him. His grandmother, who was 20 at the time, fled with her sister from the Red Army's advance in present-day Poland. She recounted a tale to the boy about their wooden cart breaking down, leading them to take refuge in a field near Dresden. That evening, she recounted how the sisters witnessed the destruction of the city in a violent bombing raid that claimed the lives of up to 25,000 civilians and has since been used as a symbol of grievance by the extreme right. Years later, Franco A made a recording of a fictional conversation in which he discussed the "bombing terror in Dresden" and questioned whether Jews should expect Germans to feel guilty indefinitely. His educators encouraged him to question authority and think independently. They grew up during the 1968 student movement and aimed to pass on the liberal values that emerged from it - a skepticism of nationalism and a commitment to making amends for the war. None of the teachers I spoke to noticed any signs of extremism in him early on, but instead remembered his challenging and curious personality. They were unaware that at that time, he had become immersed in a vast online world of conspiracy theories that would continue to impact him for years. These beliefs started to form in his private teenage diary, where Franco A described his entries as exploring ideas rather than reflecting a fixed ideology or purpose. Among his musings were thoughts on how he could alter the trajectory of German history, such as by becoming a soldier and rising to a prominent position in the military to eventually lead the German armed forces. In 2008, during the financial crisis following the collapse of Lehman Brothers, Franco A joined the army at the age of 19. He was chosen as one of the few German officer cadets to attend the prestigious Saint-Cyr military academy in France, established by Napoleon in 1802. During his five years abroad, he studied at Sciences Po in Paris, King's College London, Sandhurst (a top British officer training school), and the University of Cambridge. In 2013, he wrote a master's thesis titled "Political Change and Strategy of Subversion," where he argued that immigration and the erosion of racial purity by subversive minorities have historically led to the downfall of great civilizations. He stated that Europe and the West would be at risk if they did not defend themselves. He wrote that ethnically diverse societies were not stable and allowing migration was a form of "genocide." In his final section, he suggested that the Old Testament was the basis for all subversion, providing a plan for Jews to achieve global domination. He believed it could be the largest conspiracy in human history. The French commander of the military academy was shocked and reported it to Franco A's German superiors, stating that if it were a French participant, they would be removed from the course. The German military enlisted historian Jörg Echternkamp to evaluate the thesis, which he quickly deemed to be a "radical nationalist, racist appeal" combined with "an insecurity due to globalization" that made it socially more acceptable but also "dangerous." Despite this assessment, Franco A was not removed from service or reported to Germany's military counterintelligence agency, whose responsibility is to monitor extremism in the armed forces. Instead, on Jan 22, 2014, he was summoned to a branch office of the German military in Fontainebleau, near Paris, where an officer from the military's internal disciplinary unit informed him that his thesis was not in line with Germany's values. Franco A explained that he felt pressured to create something exceptional due to being the second-best student in his year. He became so engrossed in his thoughts that he lost perspective. After a lengthy interrogation, a senior officer concluded that Franco A had become a victim of his own intelligence. He was reprimanded and required to submit a new thesis. Upon his return to Germany in 2014, he was praised as a model soldier. In November 2015, he received a positive evaluation for his handling of ammunition. Displayed prominently on Franco A's bookshelf is a book called "The Magic Eye," which contains colorful images that transform into completely different ones when stared at for a long time. Throughout interviews, Franco A portrayed himself as a peace-loving critical thinker who had become a victim of a political environment that punished dissent. However, records and interviews with investigators and others familiar with his case depicted a different person. Upon returning from France, Franco A began associating with soldiers who shared his beliefs. They were easily located in the end. A colleague and friend connected him with a nationwide online chat group consisting of numerous soldiers and police officers worried about immigration. The network was established by an officer from Germany's elite special forces, the KSK, located in Calw, who went by the name Hannibal. Hannibal also led an organization called Uniter, providing paramilitary training, which is now being monitored by the domestic intelligence service. Franco A was present at a minimum of two Uniter gatherings and possessed badges associated with the group. According to police interviews, he was considered to be "intelligent" while on the KSK base. A witness statement revealed that he was known by several soldiers. A significant number of chat members were described as "preppers" who were preparing for the potential collapse of Germany's social structure. According to prosecutors, Franco A started gathering food rations and supplies in a "prepper" cellar, as well as obtaining guns and ammunition illegally. This occurred during a time when Russia had invaded Ukraine, there was an increase in Islamist terrorism in Europe, and German Chancellor Merkel had welcomed many Muslim asylum-seekers from conflict-ridden countries like Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Franco A remembered feeling a genuine fear of war or civil turmoil in Germany, prompting him to consider violence, according to prosecutors. He believed that the government's anti-terrorism efforts were actually directed at the public. To reveal the truth, he believed it needed to be carefully presented, requiring a significant event to lead people to it. This led him to search for potential triggers or targets. He refutes the claim, but before starting his first assignment near Strasbourg in 2015, he pretended to be a refugee for 10 days at the end of his Christmas break. While waiting for his first interview as David Benjamin at the police station, Franco A contemplated whether Damascus or Aleppo would be a more believable birthplace as part of his fake refugee identity. He eventually created a detailed fictional family history. After completing his military training in France, he became fluent in French. During interviews, he claimed to be a Syrian Christian with French heritage. He mentioned attending a French high school and working as a fruit farmer in a small village near Aleppo. Despite his efforts to prepare, he found it unnecessary in the end. German authorities did not question his story due to being overwhelmed at the time. Two days after going to the police station, he applied for asylum and was taken to various temporary group shelters. In the end, he was placed in a small house in Baustarring, a Bavarian village located 250 miles to the west of his army base. Franco A recorded numerous videos of the shelters using his cellphone camera. He appeared to doubt the level of neediness among the asylum-seekers, especially the Syrians who had escaped from once prosperous lives in cities ravaged by conflict. He described them as looking more like tourists than refugees. He explained that he chose a low-quality phone to avoid drawing attention with a high-quality one, but ended up with the worst phone. He criticized the system for being too lenient and forgiving, as he continued to receive his stipend even after turning down job offers. He only visited the shelter occasionally and missed two consecutive dates. Franco A believed that Merkel's government had contributed to a humanitarian crisis by participating in Middle Eastern wars. It felt as though he was witnessing a real-life example of the case study from his former mentor's discredited thesis. He expressed regret over the destabilization of a region that he believed could have been prevented, as millions of people migrated from that area. During his asylum hearing, the Moroccan interpreter, hesitant to question his proficiency in Arabic due to his Jewish-sounding name, later admitted to having doubts. Her concerns about potentially being perceived as anti-Semitic as a Muslim influenced her decision to remain silent. Franco A was eventually given "subsidiary protection," which permits asylum-seekers without identity documents to remain and work in Germany. While living as a refugee, he became more well-known in far-right circles. Franco A mentioned that he participated in debates at bars and was asked to speak at one of these events. He claimed that on December 15, 2016, he spoke at the "Prussian Evening," an event held at Hotel Regent in Munich by a publisher associated with a Holocaust denier. The topic of his speech that night was "German conservatives - diaspora in their own country." His voice messages became more urgent throughout the year, expressing fear of dissenters being killed. In January 2016, three weeks after becoming a refugee, he warned against hesitating to kill, not murder. He also stated his belief that he would be murdered, and threatened to kill in return. Franco A had been leading a double life for nearly seven months when he traveled to Berlin in the summer of 2016, according to prosecutors. He took four photos of car license plates in a private underground parking garage near the Jewish quarter, according to reports. The images were later found on his cellphone by investigators. The building where this happened housed the offices of the Amadeu Antonio Foundation, an organization led by Anetta Kahane, a well-known Jewish activist. Prosecutors suspect that Kahane, who is 66 years old and the daughter of Holocaust survivors, was one of several targets identified by Franco A. for their support of refugees, based on confiscated notes. Other individuals mentioned in the notes were Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, who was serving as justice minister at the time, and Claudia Roth, a Green lawmaker who held the position of Parliament's vice president. Kahane's name is mentioned multiple times in the notes, including at the end of a list of ordinary items and a reminder to contact the bank regarding his refugee alter ego's account. Franco A shared the notes with me, explaining that it was a typical to-do list. Additionally, on one page, he detailed Kahane's background, age, and work address. He illustrated a detailed map of her parking garage and wrote a note stating that they were not yet able to act as they desired. Leading up to his trip to Berlin and in the days following, prosecutors claim that Franco purchased a mounting rail for a telescopic sight and handgun parts, and was observed at a shooting range testing out the accessories with an assault rifle. Additionally, he traveled to Paris where he met with the head of a pro-Putin Russian think tank associated with France's far right, and is suspected of acquiring the French handgun later discovered in Vienna. Overall, prosecutors argue that there is sufficient evidence to suggest that Franco A was preparing for a violent act, although he refutes the allegations. He stated that the prosecutors' claims do not indicate any intent to harm Kahane. During a six-hour interview, he mentioned having pictures on his phone but emphasized that this does not prove he was present. Despite initially refusing to discuss the topic due to his impending trial, he eventually spoke about it hypothetically. If he had gone, it would have been for a conversation. He mentioned ringing the bell but discovering that Kahane was not present. Then he could have gone to the parking garage, with the thought of possibly gathering information about the car. He mentioned that through some fortunate event, he could have come across the person he was looking for. He denied any intention of killing Kahane, stating it was definitely not true. Even if he had visited the garage, he argued that at most it would have been planning for an assassination rather than terrorism. He questioned how this could pose a threat to the state, pointing out that the person in question was not even a politician. I approached Kahane to inquire about her thoughts on the matter. When we first met, she had just received another threatening email from a neo-Nazi. These threats are a common occurrence for her. One message even threatened to harm her by cutting a swastika into her face and leaving her to die. However, she found the lack of awareness from German authorities to be even more frightening. She remembered the day the police informed her that they had apprehended a neo-Nazi soldier who had intentions of killing her. They were talking about Franco A. and two of his friends. She had chuckled and asked, "So you caught all three of them?" She commented that people always assume there are only one or two or three Nazis. Whose Constitution? Article 20.4 of the German Constitution includes a provision for resistance, created in response to Hitler's 1933 enabling act that abolished democracy after his election. This provision allows citizens to take action when democracy is in danger. Far-right extremists who criticize Merkel's government as unconstitutional often embrace the Constitution, which holds a prominent place in Franco A's library. He frequently references it in his conversations. I visited him again the week before Christmas, and he expressed concern about me having transcripts of his voice recordings. I questioned him about certain statements he had made, such as declaring that Hitler was "above everything." I asked for an explanation, and he played a recording for me where he had said it in an ironic manner. The tone of the recording was casual and playful, with both voices laughing. However, it was not clear if it was meant as a joke. I also inquired about another recording from January 2016. Franco A. claimed that anyone who helps destroy the state is doing something positive, asserting that laws hold no power. This raised questions about how he could simultaneously defend the Constitution. After a moment of silence, Franco A. reviewed his own words. He flipped through the notes belonging to his lawyer, but he could not find a response. circa 2020 The New York Times Company.