She’s a prepper, works with an arms dealer, and provides a stage for right-wingers. Nevertheless, Vanessa Blank should appear in a show with Joko and Klaas.
Fans of “7 vs. Wild” were relieved about their cancellation – but the debate about Vanessa Blank and Fritz Meinecke’s popular survival web show is not over yet. Because even in her refusal, the young woman from Upper Bavaria admitted that she was “absolutely up for it”. And so participation is not off the table yet – even though Blank is repeatedly associated with the right-wing scene.
Blank has 155,000 followers on her “Bushcraft & Adventure” YouTube channel. It deals with topics such as botany, self-sufficiency or survival in the wilderness. Blank describes himself as a “prepper” – and thus assigns himself to a scene that is repeatedly criticized. Preppers are repeatedly searched because some of them are openly right-wing extremists. But that is by no means the case for everyone, as the Ministry of the Interior confirms.
YouTuber from Bavaria should take part in “7 vs. Wild”.
The term prepper is derived from the word preparation, the members of the scene equip themselves for possible disasters and arm themselves with supplies or weapons. “Regardless of the intensity of preparatory actions, according to the federal government, crisis prevention is not to be regarded as extremist,” says a statement from the Interior Ministry in 2019 not derive from the knowledge gained.”
Blank also refers to this. In a video on her channel, the Bavarian from Chiemgau rejects a connection between right-wing extremism and the prepper scene and complains about being labeled as right-wing. She is not right-wing and has emphasized this several times, says Blank. And yet there are some dubious connections and statements from her that make it understandable why many associate her with the right-wing milieu.
Critical remarks on Facebook about “7 vs. Wild” nominee
For example, she runs a Facebook group called “Friends of Freedom.” In the description of the group, for which Blank is an administrator, investigations into so-called Reich citizens are referred to as “camouflaged PR campaigns by the federal government”. One stands for democracy and freedom and sees these endangered. Blank’s competitors also offer a number of targets.
An account under the name of Siegfried Azarius Goldstein, who is also listed as an administrator, apparently operates an Instagram account on which he presents weapons, uniforms and old soldier photos from the First World War, among other things, in black and white. Meanwhile, another administrator of the group, the gun enthusiast and dealer Jörg Sprave, achieved notoriety and wealth.
As the operator of the YouTube channel “Slingshot Channel”, he presented self-made weapons in the form of massively upgraded slingshots, with which he shot biscuits or dolls dressed up like witches. His business, in which he sells weapons that shouldn’t actually be for sale, is now flourishing, as research by Südwestdeutscher Rundfunk (SWR) shows.
Sprave’s ploy: He sells a legal gun along with parts that allow the device to be quickly converted into a deadly weapon that is illegal to own. However, Sprave points out that he informs buyers that this is illegal. When asked by SWR, the deputy chairman of the police union, Michael Mertens, considers Sprave’s approach to be legal – and criticizes exactly that as a legal loophole that the dealer uses.
Right comments in Facebook group by YouTuber
What is also noticeable is what content is shared in the group. Apparently, its members are primarily committed to relaxing gun laws in Germany. However, some posts also say that families are to be “transformed”, that the Islamic State terrorist militia has opened the borders to Germany, or that “mainstream media” are “twisting the truth” and reporting “politically conform”.
