The Freibroderbund
The Freibroderbund are a group of German partisans dedicated to the restoration of Germany's rightful place among nations, and the expulsion of all foreigners from German soil by violence if necessary. The Freibroderbund evolved from various right-wing organisations and German nationalist sentiment that existed before the war that was fuelled by the nuclear destruction of Germany. The collapse of civil order following the nuclear detonations led to a rise in right wing militias across the country, and in the Paderborn area the Freibroderbund quickly filled the vacuum left by the collapse of central authority. After the nuclear attacks many German nationalist made their way to Paderborn area which is of significance to German historians. In the First Century AD the German tribal leader Arminius led an uprising against the Roman Empire were three Roman Legions under the command of the Roman General Varus were massacred in the Teutoburg Forest. Konrad Kohl the self styled leader of the Freibroderbund in Paderborn has also taken the name Arminius to emphasize the historical connection. The Paderborn area is also believed to have been the location of the Irminsul, the now lost pagan Saxon ceremonial and religious centre which was destroyed by Charlemagne in the 8th Century in his wars against the ancient Saxons. A pseudo-ideological and religious cult with roots dating to the Nazi era has emerged among the Freibroderbund and their supporters around the ancient Germanic history and lore of the area. In 2001 Paderborn is the known centre of Freibroderbund territory, and the area within 50 kilometres of the city and the nearby Teutoburg Forest in the states of North Rhine Westphalia and Lower Saxony is under its control. The Freibroderbund have many sympathisers west of the Rhine and near the borders with France, Poland and Czechoslovakia. Estimated strength of the Freibroderbund in the Paderborn area is about 1,000 armed individuals, although sympathisers in the area would multiply that figure. The strength of cells beyond this region are unknown but are not considered to be as numerous, although they are also significant in the towns such as Dessau, Eisenach, Meiningen, Nordhausen and Suhl.
The Freibroderbund have an extreme agenda in that they want to remove all foreign influences from Germany who they blame for the destruction of the country. With the Soviet nuclear attack on Germany, the French occupation of the Rhineland and NATO armies remaining in the country, the Freibroderbund has no shortage of followers. The Freibroderbund attitude towards non-Germans can depend on the nationality of the individual. They generally don’t go out of their way attack German or other NATO forces unless they are provoked, although they are in conflict with the German troops of the 31st Jaeger Division who have been sent to the Paderborn area to suppress their activities. They are hostile towards all Warsaw Pact and French troops in Germany, and unless outnumbered will attack them at any opportunity. Austrians and German speaking Swiss are considered German and so far have had little problems from the Freibroderbund. Americans and Western Europeans such as British, Danish and Dutch are generally tolerated, although non-white ones will have a difficult time unless they are part of a NATO army. The Freibroderbund is hostile to civilians of African, Middle Eastern, Asian or Eastern European origin. Because of the war French, Italians, Belgians and Greeks also now fall into the latter category and they will be forced out of areas under Freibroderbund control. Most Freibroderbund come from farming or outdoors backgrounds, although many people displaced by the war and the French occupation of the Rhineland as well as a number of German Army deserters have also joined its ranks. The Freibroderbund is armed with a mixture of NATO and Warsaw Pact military equipment as well as civilian rifles and shotguns. German intelligence considers the Freibroderbund to be the most significant home grown obstacle to the re-emergence of democratic government control over Germany. Due to their xenophobic and anti-democratic agenda some analysts have likened them to the Friekorps that emerged in Germany after the First World War which formed the vanguard of the later Nazi movement. German intelligence believes that the Freibroderbund has also infiltrated the 31st Jaeger Division that is based in the Paderborn area. In late 2000 they acquired 4 M60A4 tanks, 300 M-16A3 rifles, 10 60mm mortars, and 19 M-60 machineguns as well as other small arms, several thousand rounds of ammunition and other miscellaneous equipment from units of the US VII Corps heading for evacuation in Bremerhaven, in return for safe conduct past Freibroderbund territory. This has made the Freibroderbund a very significant threat to German Army control of the region.