On April 23, 2018, thousands of white supremacists descended upon the sleepy town of Ostritz along the German-Polish border to attend the far-right festival dubbed ‘Shield and Sword.’ The two-day event boasted a line-up of far-right attractions, clothing stalls promoting far-right merchandise, and a mixed martial arts (MMA) tournament hosted by Kampf der Nibelungen (KdN), Germany’s far-right MMA promotion, as the centerpiece.
Held to celebrate Adolf Hitler’s birthday, the festival emphasized how Europe’s neo-Nazis use music, merchandising, and violent combat sports like MMA as recruitment tools to spread their hateful ideology. Hundreds of disenfranchised youth and white supremacists gathered for a weekend of celebration that culminated in an MMA show designed specifically for neo-Nazis and their supporters.