The following is a lightly edited machine translation that takes twelve minutes to read:

Social Democrat Eva Högl served as Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces for five years, during which time she read countless submissions, listened to complaints, and denounced abuses. Högl knows the troops, especially their dark side. Nevertheless, she had hardly ever had an encounter like the one in October 2024 at the Graf Haeseler Barracks.

Högl was visiting an airborne company in Lebach, Saarland. After a round of talks with the company, a young officer cadet rushed up to her and urgently requested a private conversation. Then, when she was alone with Högl, the paratrooper burst into tears.

Crying, she described how sexual harassment and macho remarks were commonplace in her unit. The young woman was distraught and desperate. The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces pricked up her ears.

“I quickly realized that something was wrong here,” recalls Högl, now Senator of the Interior in Bremen. She encourages the young woman to write an official complaint. But the soldier does not want to appear by name; she is afraid of reprisals. Instead, she presses a sealed envelope into Högl’s hand.

It contains a document entitled “Accounts by female comrades of sexually harassing, intimidating, and abusive behavior.” It lists 23 cases in which soldiers are alleged to have abused female comrades, both verbally and physically. It reports how female soldiers were asked suggestive questions and touched against their will. How a soldier banged on the door of the women’s toilet: “Get your hot ass out here, I want to fuck you at last!”

This sets off a scandal that goes beyond sexual assault and crude remarks. And it only becomes fully public more than a year later.

The company in Lebach belongs to Airborne Brigade 1, as does Parachute Regiment 26 in Zweibrücken, where the female soldier had previously served. Shortly after Christmas 2025, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper reports that sexual misconduct, right-wing extremist outbursts, and drug use were apparently commonplace there—at least, as it now turns out, in part of the unit, the 4th Company.

Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) had known about this since at least the summer. But on the day before New Year’s Eve 2025, he gives the impression that he has only just heard about it. “The reported cases of right-wing extremism, sexual misconduct, and drug use in Zweibrücken are shocking,” Pistorius announces.

What has happened, and more importantly what has not happened, in the 14 months since Högl’s visit to the paratroopers says a lot about the internal state of the German Armed Forces.

Toxic masculinity, Axis sympathies, misogyny — the events in Zweibrücken contradict the open, modern image that this army so eagerly wants to project in order to attract young people. Especially now.

Russia is once again a serious threat, the U.S. is no longer a reliable partner, and the Bundeswehr must defend this country in an emergency. It needs to grow. It needs new recruits, including women.

Fascist salutes and vulgar remarks

The new military service model was launched at the start of the new year, and the first 650,000 18-year-olds have been sent letters asking them to fill out questionnaires. The hope is that as many of them as possible will enlist, but now most of them are likely to be asking themselves: There? Where a Hitler salute is considered good fun among comrades and a platoon leader sends his subordinates off for the weekend with the slogan “Fuck while your dick is hard”? That is what it says in the document that Eva Högl received.

After Högl’s visit to Lebach, nothing happens for months. The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces cannot order an investigation because all the descriptions are anonymous and the units are not named. With a few exceptions, the incidents have not been reported. The female soldiers are afraid. And, as they write, they have found that their superiors downplay such cases.

It is not until February 2025 that something happens. A rumor is circulating in the 4th Company of the Parachute Regiment: Playboy wants to publish an article about the snipers of the Delta platoon, one of the subunits identified by letters from the NATO alphabet. Several female soldiers were outraged: they had to contend with sexual harassment — and now an article about their company was to appear in Playboy, of all places, alongside naked and half-naked women?

Two female soldiers decide to ask the regiment’s equal opportunities officer whether this is in line with the values of the German Armed Forces. This turned into a conversation lasting three or four hours, one of the soldiers later writes in her submission to the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces.

The soldiers tell the equal opportunities officer about their own experiences of sexual harassment and suggestive comments. In the evening, they sent her the anonymized list, which was also sent to the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces.

The representative reported what the soldiers had revealed to her to her superiors. The very next day, the superior division “Schnelle Kräfte” (Rapid Forces) sent two legal advisors for an interrogation.

The list of allegations is quickly growing longer. According to reports, some senior soldiers allegedly entered women’s shower rooms and toilets, some of them while drunk. Some female soldiers are said to have suffered panic attacks, probably also out of fear of being raped. This is due to statements such as the one quoted by one female soldier: “How does it feel to know that anyone here could rape you? Nothing would come of it anyway, no one would say anything.”

Another female soldier recalls the following statement: “Just theoretically: if you were to fall at the front, would you find it really bad if we all slid over your corpse while it was still warm? I mean, at least you’d have done one good thing for the company.”

Rape fantasies, trivializations, and threats were routine, according to the female soldiers. In an internal status report by the army from late fall 2025, a chart shows more than 40 specific allegations of sexual misconduct in the 4th Company alone. More than 10 were confirmed by the investigations, and a few more are considered “open” according to the confidential document. About 15 suspected cases could not be proven conclusively.

But that’s not all. Months after the first reports from female soldiers, other things besides the shocking sexual remarks have come to light in Zweibrücken. A total of 16 cases have been handed over to the public prosecutor’s office, the majority of which involve drugs, especially cocaine. In addition, there are allegations of incitement to hatred, with soldiers said to have used symbols of unconstitutional organizations. Depictions of sexual abuse of children and animals were found in the possession of one soldier, and another is under suspicion. Proceedings to dismiss 19 accused soldiers from service have been initiated, and in three cases this has already been carried out.

And it was not as if all this happened behind closed doors in Zweibrücken. Anyone who wanted to see could see. Or rather, hear.

Fascist-style parties

According to a female soldier’s submission, it was apparently common practice for enlisted soldiers to shout “Sierra” when entering a room — and for the rest to shout “Hotel!” back. Sierra and Hotel are letters from the NATO alphabet, standing for S and H. According to the submission, everyone knew that this meant “Sieg Heil!”

In another platoon, according to another complaint, the Hitler salute was the “customary greeting” when entering a room. In the army’s status report, both incidents are listed as “confirmed.”

One corporal is said to have distributed xenophobic stickers. Another, according to a submission, addressed comrades as “you Jew” or “Jew pig.”

And then there were the costumes in which several soldiers appeared at a party in the Zweibrücken barracks in June 2023. A photo shows them wearing light blue service shirts, suspenders, black trousers, and red armbands. Although there were no swastikas, the armbands and the entire outfit were reminiscent of Axis uniforms.

Participants questioned later claimed that the costumes were based on the British series “Peaky Blinders,” which portrays a criminal family in the 1920s and 1930s. That does not seem particularly credible.

But apparently, there were no consequences. According to investigators’ findings, several soldiers are said to have appeared at another party in March 2025 wearing the same costumes.

According to the latest documents from the German Armed Forces, no right-wing extremist network has been identified — but extremist behavior by individuals has been confirmed. In one instance, “right-wing extremist images and video material” were exchanged via group chat, including a depiction of Santa Claus in an SS uniform. According to an insider, the Holocaust was also denied.

The allegations of drug use and right-wing extremism were only confirmed at a late stage. One of the female soldiers who had initiated the investigation in February suddenly incriminated a close acquaintance, a corporal, in mid-July — apparently she had previously had reservations due to their personal closeness. When investigators searched the soldier’s cell phone, they quickly found hundreds of right-wing extremist images, corresponding chats, and photos of comrades consuming cocaine in the barracks.

Shortly thereafter, in mid-August, military police surprised the soldiers returning from vacation. Searches were conducted and more cell phones were confiscated. The entire company had to undergo drug testing, which, as expected, came back positive for a handful of them.

For a long time, the investigations focused on the 4th Company, with army reports referring to a “toxic internal structure.” But in the summer, when the investigations were already in full swing, reports also came in from other parts of the regiment.

The commander of another company is under investigation for pointing a partially loaded pistol at the faces of two soldiers from a distance of three meters. And in a company based in Merzig, a soldier had to undergo emergency surgery in June 2025 after close combat training.

According to an internal document, two instructors are alleged to have “repeatedly struck the soldier in the genital area and on the head, contrary to the relevant regulations,” without allowing the soldier to raise his cover. Here, too, there is suspicion of criminal offenses. In total, the Bundeswehr currently has 55 suspects and has conducted more than 260 interrogations.

‘A fatal climate of tolerance’

Why did it take so long for the abuses in Zweibrücken to come to light? For the Army Command in Strausberg, the answer is clear. A status report states that Colonel Oliver Henkel, the now-deposed regimental commander, and the company commander have “so far not been found guilty of any breach of duty.”

Nonetheless, the word “so far” is underlined in bold in the document, and immediately below it, shortcomings in the leadership qualities of the two officers are denounced. “Hesitant investigation and punishment of misconduct led to the impression that wrongdoing had no consequences,” it continues.

Defense Minister Pistorius strikes the same note: “What is unacceptable is that the misconduct was apparently not immediately recognized as such on the ground and was therefore not pursued with the necessary consistency,” he complained. One of his generals speaks of a “fatal climate of tolerance” in Zweibrücken.

Henkel refuses to accept this. In complaints against his dismissal, he presents a different version of events. According to him, his staff had been conducting intensive investigations with the military disciplinary prosecutor’s office since February 2025.

However, apart from two crude remarks made by two sergeants, he was initially unable to verify the allegations: the eyewitnesses named were unable or unwilling to confirm the incidents. It was not until mid-July, when his dismissal had already been decided, that the decisive information about the right-wing extremist corporal was received.

And when did Minister Pistorius find out?

The female soldiers also sent their submissions to him, Inspector General Carsten Breuer, and other recipients in the ministry and the armed forces in June. A speaker for the ministry left open whether Pistorius had read them.

By early July at the latest, however, Pistorius is in the picture. According to the ministry, Inspector General Breuer reported to him at this point about the events and the status of the investigation. By then, the regiment has already questioned dozens of soldiers, the military disciplinary prosecutor’s office has been called in, and higher authorities are aware of the situation.

In September, the first allegations become public. An anonymous informant, apparently a soldier from the regiment, contacts various media outlets by email. The Pfälzischer Merkur newspaper picks up on the tip and investigates. “Hitler salutes, drugs, and sexual assaults? Paratroopers in the crosshairs of the justice system,” the paper writes. The regiment issues its first official statement, but only after being asked to do so.

Even the defense politicians in the Bundestag only learn what is going on in Zweibrücken well after the summer break. In a closed-door meeting of the Defense Committee on October 15, Parliamentary State Secretary Sebastian Hartmann (SPD) reports to the members of parliament about the investigations — but without giving any details or exact figures, according to participants.

“Given the scope and significance of the allegations, it would have been desirable for the German Bundestag and its Defense Committee to have been informed and involved earlier and more comprehensively by the Federal Ministry of Defense,” says committee chairman Thomas Röwekamp (CDU).

Is Pistorius doing enough?

Some members of parliament, including those from the CDU/CSU and SPD parties, also believe that Pistorius and his ministry are not doing enough and are acting too hesitantly. After her visit to Lebach, former Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces Högl suggested conducting a study to investigate the extent and consequences of sexual misconduct in the German Armed Forces.

Nevertheless, so far only a project outline has been presented. Högl’s successor, Henning Otte (CDU), now warns that such an analysis is “essential for developing targeted and effective prevention and education measures.”

Otherwise, Pistorius is relying on the “Airborne Forces Action Plan” being promoted by the new Army Inspector Christian Freuding. Among other things, this plan calls for expanding education and values training, as well as mandatory courses at the Center for Internal Leadership. And Freuding is to travel once a quarter to the three locations of Airborne Brigade 1, which includes the paratrooper regiment in Zweibrücken, to conduct inspections.

Will that be enough? And what is the situation like in the rest of the troops? Is the problem limited to individual units, especially combat units such as the paratroopers or the élite KSK unit, where a right-wing extremist network was uncovered in 2020? Or does it extend throughout the entire Bundeswehr?

At the very least, incidents continue to occur. In December, the Army NCO School made headlines when, at a Christmas party held at the school in Delitzsch, Saxony, a hired DJ played the banned first verse of the German national anthem after the commander’s speech in front of the assembled troops.

But instead of using the provocation as an opportunity to provide clear instruction, the school commander tried to sweep the matter under the carpet. According to internal investigations, the colonel warned the young soldiers that the incident must “under no circumstances be made public.” When the cover-up attempt became known, the army urged the school principal to resign from his post.

The number of cases of political extremism has risen. In 2024, the Military Counter-Intelligence Service had to deal with 875 suspected cases of right-wing extremism, three-quarters of the total number. In the previous year, the figure was 776. According to the federal government, there is “no evidence” of a particular concentration in certain units.

The study “Army in Democracy,” published in 2025, certified that the Bundeswehr had “no systematic problem with right-wing extremism” — right-wing extremist positions found 2.6 percent approval among the troops, compared to 11 percent among the general population. The study was based on a survey of more than 4,000 Bundeswehr members and, for comparison, the same number of civilians.

But why are the numbers rising? On the one hand, they reflect social developments, such as the rise of the AfD. On the other hand, sensitivity may have increased, leading to more cases being reported.

This also applies to sexual assault. In 2024, 376 cases of suspected crimes against sexual self-determination were investigated within the armed forces. Here, too, the numbers are trending upward.

The real problem, however, is the number of unreported cases. Many incidents of harassment in the armed forces are still not being reported.

“We also need to talk about why soldiers often shy away from reporting misconduct by comrades or superiors,” says defense politician Röwekamp. We need to think about “how we can make it easier for soldiers to report incidents without fear of personal repercussions.”

But how? What can the armed forces do to prevent incidents like the one in Zweibrücken from happening again? And to ensure that, if they do happen, they are reported, punished, and stopped more quickly?

Jessica Ritter has a few ideas. The 44-year-old is a flotilla doctor and has been the Navy’s equal opportunities officer since 2021. Reports of sexual assault and bullying regularly land on her desk. The reports from Zweibrücken are “unfortunately nothing unusual,” says Ritter.

She sees it as a problem that it is the superiors who are supposed to investigate reported misconduct. “Most of them are not trained at all to deal with such situations,” says Ritter. In addition, the superiors are often friends with the accused or have worked together. “Sometimes the perpetrator is also their best man.”

Ritter’s solution? She advocates for external contact persons to whom women can turn. There must be independent investigations. She is not alone in this proposal; former Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces Högl has already made a similar demand.

So far, little has happened.

(Emphasis original.)