Der Schelm

Der Schelm is one of Europe's largest publishers of National Socialist and Antisemitism literature. Due to investigations by the Public Prosecutor General (Germany) at the Federal Supreme Court (Public Prosecutor General (Germany) and several seizures and arrests the publishing house is, as of October 2022, only active to a limited extent. The publisher´s offers for sale, among other things, anti-Semitic children's books, an uncommented edition of Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf" and writings denying Nazi crimes.
== Activities ==
According to some information, the publishing house was founded in 2014 by Adrian Preißinger; the German government limits its information to the fact that it has existed since at least 2016. In the General Terms and Conditions, Adrian Preißinger is named as the operator of the dispatch. The official headquarters of the publishing house has been moved several times; in 2019 from Leipzig to the Czech Republic and from the Czech Republic most recently to Thailand. According to research by the Norddeutscher Rundfunk format STRG_F the address in the Czech Republic was a fake address.
In the publisher's assortment, books denying the Holocaust are offered under the heading "St. Holoclaus". In 2020, this section also featured a photo that read: "Holocau$t i$ fake hi$tory". The publisher was first reported nationwide in 2016. At that time, Adrian Preißinger announced its intention to publish an uncommented edition of Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf". The public prosecutor's office of Bamberg then investigated the publisher on suspicion of incitement to hatred Volksverhetzung and the use of symbols of unconstitutional organizations.
Based on the research conducted by the public broadcasting channel STRG_F, renewed investigations by the Saxony State Criminal Police Office (Landeskriminalamt) were scheduled for 2020. On December 17, 2020, several of the publisher's properties were searched, during which the police seized around 80 pallets containing several thousand books. The LKA assumes that a "higher six-figure amount" was seized in the process. According to reports by the Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR), in addition to Adrian Preißinger, Enrico Böhm, Matthias B., and two other persons are presumably responsible for the shipment. In a reportage, it is said to be seen how Enrico Böhm sent packages for the onlineshop in 2019. Adrian Preißinger is said to live in a suburb of Moscow in Russia, according to NDR, and there is an arrest warrant against him. In renewed reporting from October 2022, STRG F revealed that "Der Schelm" continues to ship at least portions of its assortment through third-party publishers.
== Investigation into the formation of a criminal organization ==
At a later point in time, the Federal Prosecutor General at the Federal Supreme Court (Public Prosecutor General (Germany)|GBA) took over the investigation against the "Der Schelm". There is suspicion of the formation and membership of a Organized crime|criminal organization. This is said to have existed since 2018. On June 1, 2022, Matthias B. was then arrested and remanded in custody. According to the Prosecutor General at the Federal Supreme Court, he had a "prominent function" in the association. Among other things, he allegedly processed the orders received via the Internet and instructed other group members to ship the books. On the same day, premises in Saxony and Brandenburg were also searched. According to the GBA's press release, the purpose of the publishing house was to spread a "national socialist and anti-Semitic ideology" by selling books. According to the GBA, there was a charge of Volksverhetzung|incitement of hatred. On June 3, another defendant in the case was remanded in custody. According to research by NDR, both arrest warrants have been suspended and the defendants are thus free again for the time being.
== Investigations against third parties ==
In the context of the distribution of unconstitutional writings by the publishing house, investigations were conducted against customers, advertisers and partners. For example, goods seized by customs from the publisher also led to a public prosecutor's investigation against the customer, the property of a bookseller in Forchheim was searched because of advertising for the publisher's "Mein Kampf" reprint and the right-wing extremist Margret Nickel is being investigated because of the support given to the onlineshop.
== Publisher founder Adrian Preißinger ==
Adrian Preißinger (born 1964 in Kronach) is a German right-wing extremist wanted by the authorities. Preißinger is on the run.
Preißinger was active in the National Democratic Party of Germany|NPD and worked as a producer of neo-Nazi music. Later, he was a full-time employee at the NPD publishing house "Deutsche Stimme". In the early 1990s, he was editor-in-chief of the magazine "Nation". On December 19, 2002, the Dresden Regional Court sentenced Preißinger to three years in prison for distributing propaganda materials of unconstitutional organizations, Volksverhetzung|incitement of the people and other acts. According to his own statements, Preißinger founded the militant neo-Nazi book publishing house "Der Schelm" in Leipzig in 2014.
Preißinger absconded abroad and is believed to be in Russia. STRG_F published information in 2022 that Preißinger was in the Moscow area. According to information from the research format STRG_F, Preißinger is still the head of the publishing house, even after the arrest and searches of four other defendants in Germany in 2022.
Category:Publishers
Category:Antisemitic publications