The New Reich: Violent Extremism in Unified Germany and Beyond.

• Author: Lee, Martin A.

When the Berlin Wall crumbled, some Western foreign-policy mavens were quick to sound the trumpets and proclaim the end of history. Liberal democracy had supposedly notched an unequivocal victory, ushering in a new world order of clanging cash registers and busy voting booths. But such puerile predictions have been rudely rebuked by an upsurge of rabid nationalism and "ethnic cleansing" that is rapidly transforming the political landscape of Europe.

Ominous signs are abundant: the proliferation of skinhead gangs, an escalating pattern of violence directed at immigrants and asylum-seekers, vandalism targeting synagogues and mosques, anti-Semitic outbursts where few Jews reside, the growing electoral clout of far-Right political parties. All are manifestations of a neofascist revival that has gained considerable momentum since the end of the Cold War. Accentuated by the collapse of Soviet-bloc communism and the unification of Germany, the recrudescence of fascism constitutes one of the most dangerous and unsettling trends in Europe today.

Among the new books that shed light on aspects of this multifaceted phenomenon, most vivid is The New Reich by Michael Schmidt, a gutsy documentary filmmaker who managed to penetrate Germany's neo-Nazi underground and return with intimate portraits of its youthful leaders. A riveting narrative describes Schmidt's hair-raising adventure into the heart of his country's darkness, where at times it is difficult to distinguish between the attitudes of racist defectives fomenting terror on the streets and complacent German officials who wink at the perpetrators.

Assisted by the editors of Searchlight, Europe's preeminent antifascist magazine, Schmidt provides an inside look at the burgeoning neo-Nazi scene, including paramilitary camps that attract young militants throughout Europe. While stashing weapons for future use on the continent, a few hundred right-wing extremists from various countries have already cut their teeth fighting alongside Croatian soldiers in the former Yugoslavia. Other Nazis flocked to Baghdad to show their solidarity with Saddam Hussein when the United States began bombing Iraq at the outset of the 1991 Gulf war.

Schmidt highlights additional cross-border linkages among neofascists, who undertake annual pilgrimages to honor the likes of General Francisco Franco and Rudolf Hess. Some of the same folks make the rounds at international conferences that purport to debunk the "myth" of the...