He testifies with a hidden face and does not give his real name for fear of reprisals. Christopher, a student in Dijon, claims to have seen many racist, anti-Semitic and even openly Nazi slippages within the Generation Z movement, which supports candidate Eric Zemmour. The Reconquest party! denies all these accusations.
In mid-February, the inhabitants of the Dijon district of Grésilles discovered a distressing spectacle : swastikas tagged on a wall fresco in the neighborhood and on children’s games. The letter “Z” is also inscribed in black paint. “These crosses were written by Generation Z activists“says Christopher. Aged 20, he is a former Generation Z activist in Dijon. Generation Z, the youth movement with Zemmour, attached to Reconquest!, the party of the far-right presidential candidate.
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Christopher’s testimony was first published last week in two activist media, Kawa TV and Blast Info. France 3 Bourgogne met this ex-activist, who presents himself as a repentant from Generation Z.
Arrived in Dijon for his studies at the start of the school year in September 2021, he first joined the UNI, a right-wing student union. “I discussed with them, then I was invited to various parties and actions, I sympathized with these people – without necessarily having a political opinion at the time”, explains Christopher. “By dint of sympathizing with UNI activists, the vast majority of whom are part of Generation Z, I contacted Jürgens Tyll, the regional manager in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, and Antoine Camus who is departmental manager in Côte -Golden. Little by little, Jürgens offered me to join the movement.“Christopher is onboarding Generation Z on November 18th. And then receives an amazing “welcome message”.
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The student receives, from Jürgens Tyll’s number, a sound file that we were able to listen to. It’s music by the group Supreme MRAP dedicated to Maurice Papon, the prefect of police sentenced to 10 years in prison for crimes against humanity for having taken part in the deportation of hundreds of Jews to Auschwitz. The lyrics are explicitly anti-Semitic: “This Friday, October 22, 1999, Maurice Papon is unjustly arrested in Switzerland for service rendered to humanity. A deporter of Jews to save the French.” Then the chorus:Free Maurice Papon”. The Supreme MRAP group is also the author of other songs with unequivocal titles: He was born the divine Adolph, Queer Hunt, Negrolokaust…
“I was surprised, I didn’t really understand when I received this messageand,” explains Christopher. “I did not answer. I didn’t know how to take it.” After this first introduction, he is integrated into the Telegram groups (encrypted messaging) of Generation Z. And says he has noticed, over the course of the exchanges and the evenings, new slippages.
“Racist and homophobic remarks were very common. There are many racist songs too, sung in the evening.“Songs not broadcast on conventional platforms. Christopher shows us a site where we can find them, and cites several of them. “Turbaned Africanit is the one that is really the most sung in the evening. At full cargo, they like it too. And also It’s still good runeswho criticizes the RN for not being extremist enough.”
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Christopher says in particular to have a precise memory around this music. “I was in a car with two high-ranking activists in Burgundy. The first put It’s still good runes. The other shouted “Oh yes!” and the first replied “As soon as I put it on, it’s always the same ‘Oh yes’… In other words, they often listen to it“says Christopher.
In mid-February, Christopher and three Generation Z activists went to Fontaine-d’Ouche to stick pro-Zemmour stickers. “We were targeting a popular neighborhood for the provocation”, recognizes Christopher. The group is spotted by young people from the neighborhood and leaves the place to go to the university of Dijon. “We tag Z on the facade of the restaurant U. Then, one of us starts to tag a swastika.” The group then leaves for Les Grésilles. Christopher does not follow them. The next day, several of these swastikas were discovered in the neighborhood, as France 3 Bourgogne reports in this article.
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Nazi signs are inscribed on a wall fresco and on the slide of a kindergarten. The letter Z is also tagged with black paint. For Christopher, there is no doubt: it is these three Generation Z activists who are behind the tags.
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“It may have taken these serious things to make me aware of smaller things about the ideology, the ideas of Eric Zemmour.“Today, Christopher thinks he was influenced. “When I returned to UNI, I was hostile to Zemmour, but by dint of debate, I ended up joining the movement without even being convinced. I was 19, I had no political ideas at that time.”
“I think it’s the people like me that the Gen Z activists are targeting, the freshmen coming into college and finding out.”
Christopher says he let himself be convinced, above all, by the “festive” side of the movement. “Even if there is a political ideology, you don’t realize it at first. The evenings at the beginning of the year, yes there are military songs, but that didn’t shock me so much at first. I thought it was a good atmosphere. Alcohol, songs… People say to me: “But how can you join this movement all of a sudden?” In fact, it doesn’t happen like that all of a sudden. It is difficult to explain“Admits Christopher, embarrassed. “In September 2021, I was completely apolitical. If I arrived in the party of Eric Zemmour, it was more by good atmosphere than by political conviction. Now I realize that I share other values.”
In the wake of the swastika tags, the young activist begins to distance himself from Generation Z.”I no longer shared the official and unofficial ideas of the movement.” He then approaches a leftist movement, which he does not wish to name. “Generation Z activists learned about it and asked me for an explanation. It was a bit tense. Then I was gently removed from the movement.”
It was then that he decided to testify to the militant site Kawa TV and Blast Info. In response, Christopher says he received threats.
“In college, someone I didn’t know tried to spit on me and said, ‘I hope you’re glad you screwed up.’
For this spat, he files a handrail on March 31. Today Christopher says “to fear” to be attacked by relatives of the movement of Eric Zemmour. However, he wants to testify. “For me, this is information of public utility”, judges Christopher. “Everyone should know what’s going on in this movement. My primary goal is not to harm them, but to inform, to warn future activists and voters of Eric Zemmour.” Christopher says he is not part of any political party today.
Contacted to respond to these accusations, the Reconquête! in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté categorically denies all the accusations made by Christopher. Jürgens Tyll did not respond to our requests, but another Generation Z executive in Burgundy confirms that Christopher has been “fired on January 28“.
“We have proof that three-quarters of what this person says is completely false, and that he is even at the origin of half of the things of which he accuses us.“The “welcome message” with the song “Free Maurice Papon”? According to this zemmourist, it was Christopher himself who sent himself this message “for malicious purposes”.
“Jürgens had the unfortunate idea of leaving his mobile unlocked during a party, which resulted in the message being sent.”
The swastikas at Les Grésilles? “He tagged them himself. We have the evidence.“The movement suspects Christopher of knowingly joining the ranks of Generation Z to harm the party.”I’m sure he was with us as an undercover, to get files. He’s someone who caused us more problems than anything else.“Generation Z reserves the right to file a complaint.
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