Jürgen Elsässer: Neither „Symbol“ nor „Role Model“

Rash, one-sided partisanship is completely out of place

Some of you may have heard about the action taken by the German Ministry of the Interior against Jürgen Elsässer, publisher of the „COMPACT“ magazine. As was to be expected, the cartel of lies and disinformation which I wrote about recently and who Elsässer is a member of did not waste a second to take sides with him in an extremely one-sided – and equally conspicuous – manner and to glorify him as a „hero“ of the „resistance“. An impression that could not be more wrong.

Some in the German alternative media will no doubt be upset by my words and probably even accuse me of „treason“ instead of approaching the matter with a cool head and healthy scepticism. Since such incidents – which is the first mistake to make – usually cause emotions to boil over quickly (which in this case is exactly what is wanted by the very cartel of lies and disinformation that is now deliberately escalating the situation), it is all the more important to keep a clear head.

So when german newspaper „Die Zeit“ („The Times“) writes (in an article from July 19th) „… the scene shows solidarity“, this is not entirely correct for two reasons: firstly, in the first few hours after the raid against Elsässer and „COMPACT“ became known, only this disinformation cartel – which should not be confused with the entire „alternative scene“ – showed solidarity in order to create the false impression that Elsässer is a completely innocent victim. A role that he does not deserve. Secondly, precisely this effect – the false impression of „unity“ among the alternatives – is also intentional in order to place this mendacious gang at the centre of attention and give it even more support. This would be disastrous because the free formation of opinion on the internet would be jeopardised if only such manipulators were to achieve the greatest reach.

The obvious aspects of the case: freedom of opinion naturally also includes the right to hold very controversial or even „stupid“ opinions. This should be self-understood. A lack of knowledge of history and ideological blindness, as repeatedly demonstrated by Elsässer, are not „crimes“ that would justify a raid and the confiscation (!) of all his assets. I probably don’t need to say much more about Nancy Faeser either – some of her recent public statements were undoubtedly questionable. Nevertheless, this case could be much more complicated and one should be careful not to take sides prematurely and claim that the Ministry of the Interior attacked Elsässer out of sheer arbitrariness. More on this later.

It is also quite another matter to exploit such incidents in the usual shameless and unscrupulous manner with misleading and deliberately exaggerated, hysterical and sensationalist headlines that serve no other purpose than self-aggrandisement and increasing reach – as Stefan Magnet, editor-in-chief of a pseudo-alternative outlet called „AUF1“ so aptly demonstrated – again. Magnet is part of the aforementioned desinformation cartel. Which in this case could backfire badly anyway. Some people actually seem to believe that they can take control of the alternative media just like that. They can’t. They won’t.

As a journalist and publicist myself, it should be clear that I will not tolerate statements like the following and will fight against them.

Magnet finally dropped all remaining inhibitions – which is actually a good thing, because it only made his true intentions even more obvious – and took it upon himself to spread the following completely unacceptable false claim:

„The name Elsässer now symbolises freedom of the press in Germany and Europe!“

In view of Elsässer’s behaviour, such statements must leave one stunned.

Let’s get this straight: Jürgen Elsässer is not a journalist, but a political activist, propagandist and agitator – the latter primarily in the interests of the Kremlin. Therefore, he cannot possibly stand „symbolically“ for journalism or freedom of the press. Someone who is so one-sided, so biased and politically stubborn is definitely not a „symbol“ or „role model“. Of course I object to someone like that being „representative“ of me and my work. That is an imposition.

To clarify my position, here are some of Elsässer’s „greatest hits“ (from the article „Ministry of the Interior bans ‚COMPACT‘ magazine by Jürgen Elsässer“ by german journalist and publicist Alexander Benesch from July 16th):

„Mussolini’s ‚March on Rome‘ was also a well-planned operation with the prior capture of many town halls in the provinces, and Lenin’s October Revolution was nothing other than an excellently planned military coup with defecting tsarist troops.“

„Nothing other“ than an „excellently“ planned military coup, in which Lenin personally gave the order to persecute and „mercilessly kill“ political opponents (see Wolfgang Krieger’s book „Geschichte der Geheimdienste“, as of now only available in german).

Elsässer:

„… in February we will raise a toast to Sir Arthur Harris, whose air fleet bombed the Soviet tanks free on their advance to Berlin. And on May 8th, we would like to have Mossad specialists show us how to blow up German Tornados. Just in case.“

„Long live Ho Chi Minh and the Vietnamese people. […] Long live Hezbollah! […] May Syria, Iran, Russia, Venezuela, Cuba and China keep the powder dry.“

„Long live the New Model Army of Comrade Mao Tse Tung! Your white patent leather boots will trample Yankee imperialism into the dust of history!“

Yeah, right. Long live the army of the highly paranoid psychopath Mao, whose „experiment“ killed millions of people.

And so it goes on and on.

To round off the series of quotations, here is a delicacy (from Benesch’s article):

„‚We simply want to overthrow the regime,’ he said. On 3 October 2023, he said at an event in Gera that he wanted to re-establish a ‘separate state called the GDR’ in the East. ‚We have a Reichskanzler in the shape of Björn Höcke’.“

Excuse me: „Reichskanzler“?

A separate state „called the GDR“? I won’t be lumped together with someone like that. Elsässer definitely does NOT „symbolise“ journalism or „freedom of the press“, not in Germany and certainly not in the whole of Europe. That’s grotesque.

Above all because Elsässer did not exactly show much respect for the freedom of opinion of others. Benesch is right when he writes – which I can confirm from my own observations:

„… he ‘didn’t shed a tear’ for Chechnya, he had no sympathy for the destruction of Russian dissidents […] Typical of Elsässer is the massive lack of feeling towards others, and at the same time the hysterical claiming of the role of victim and martyr status when he himself experiences negative consequences. […] The Compact wanted to milk the right-wing part of the public […] Elsässer (…) was still calling for strict media censorship in the 1990s (!). […] Elsässer is currently complaining about the police raid and insisting on freedom of the press. At the same time, he is known for not giving a damn about how dissidents are downright destroyed in his beloved Mother Russia and people are punished for even the slightest criticism of the war in Ukraine.“

But now things are getting really interesting (from Benesch’s article):

„A few years ago, members of parliament from the party ‚The Left‘ asked the German government what connections COMPACT magazine had to right-wing extremist circles and foreign governments or their cover organisations. What goes beyond the obvious is so secret that not even members of parliament with an eyes-only-classification were allowed to view the files.“

In another article published two days later („The Compact has shot itself in the knee“), Benesch quotes several passages from the material published so far by the Ministry of the Interior:

„The fact that the date of publication, Adolf Hitler’s birthday, is not a coincidence is shown by the publication on 20 April 2024, when ‚COMPACT‘ advertises the book ’Hitler. Self-image of a revolutionary’ and describes Hitler as a ‚revolutionary from Braunau‘. In a conversation between Stephanie Elsässer, Ph.D., and Paul Klemm about upcoming recordings of ‘COMPACT-TV’, it also becomes clear that Hitler is revered in parts of ‘COMPACT’ and that 20 April is deliberately celebrated.“

And now I wish you bon appétit …

„‘COMPACT’ also distributes and advertises the cookbook ‘Die 88 besten Fleischgerichte aus dem Reich’ [The 88 best meat dishes from the Reich] by right-wing extremist Tommy Frenck. The book is described by ‘COMPACT’ as a ‘cult cookbook’. Even if the book only contains recipes, the title nevertheless shows the right-wing extremist attitude behind the publication.“

… and fully agree with Benesch’s comment below that quote:

„That can probably be filed under the category ‘stupid and cheeky’.“

Unfortunately, it is no longer possible to „console“ oneself by claiming that all this could have been foisted on the „COMPACT“ editorial team by undercover agents – who did in fact exist there. It has been known for a long time that the right-wing extremist scene is staffed by undercover agents of the domestic secret service – en masse. And it is quite conceivable that the publication was to be destroyed from within in this way. However, the quotes further above do not come from informers, but from Elsässer himself.

Always demonising everything Western – like Elsässer does – celebrating insane dictators with mass murder fantasies like Mao, glorifying Putin as the archangel Michael in a man costume: What a beacon, what a shining example, what a symbol of good journalism and freedom of the press „in Germany and the whole of Europe“ …

You gotta be kiddin‘.