Interview with Hannes Kramer (School Strike Against Conscription) by Marco Veruggio. It was published in italian in PuntoCritico
On Friday, December 5, 2025, students in Germany took to the streets against the approval of the Neuer Wehrdienst, the law with which the German Reichstag has reintroduced military service—officially voluntary, but if the targets are not met, compulsory service and conscription by lottery will be triggered.
The organizers say they aim to involve more and more students in a mobilization that, they note, has only just begun and, they promise, intends to continue for a long time. Hannes Kramer is a student and one of the organizers of the December 5 strike.
MV: Can you give us some data on the spread and participation in the school strike? Are you satisfied, and have you already reflected on the next steps?
HK: Across Germany, more than 55,000 people took part in the Schulstreik against compulsory military service. In cities such as Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, and Dresden, there were thousands, but even in many smaller towns hundreds took to the streets. For us this turnout is a great success, reinforced by the fact that in the preceding months and weeks so many students became active, learned how to prepare a strike, and in doing so learned how to defend their own interests. In this way, the foundations have been laid for the emergence of a broad, long-term youth movement against compulsory military service.
The next steps will be discussed in the strike committees. But one thing is certain: the next nationwide strike day will be on 5 March. In the meantime, we must expand our activism and convince even more students.
MV: Who organized this campaign and how? It seems that there is a central level—the website—and that students in each city joined the strike but also organized themselves autonomously. Is that correct?
HK: Schulstreik gegen die Wehrpflicht—the strike against conscription—was initiated by students in various cities. Locally, we are organized in strike committees in which students from different schools collaborate, including student representative bodies. Locally, the committees receive support—varying from place to place—from various youth organizations and from local branches of the “No to Compulsory Military Service!” campaign.
An important role is played by student representative organizations, including the LSV NRW, but also by other youth organizations such as the Falken and the SDAJ [1].
MV: How has society around you reacted: students, young people in general, workers, and other social groups?
HK: The reaction from society is largely positive. We have received support from parents, grandparents, teachers, students, trade unions, youth political organizations, and many others. The government is working against us by trying to spread the narrative that compulsory military service will be reintroduced to enable us to continue living a free life—which supposedly includes, for example, the right to demonstrate and strike. But this is in poor taste, considering that in Rostock the authorities did not authorize a single assembly during school hours, and that in some cities principals and teachers actively obstructed students’ right to hold assemblies.
MV: The return of militarism and the reintroduction of conscription is a European phenomenon—it is being discussed also in France and Italy. Do you intend to build international links to develop joint initiatives with students from other countries?
HK: Our goal is to prevent the reintroduction of compulsory conscription in Germany. That is where we can exert the most direct influence. But of course we stand in solidarity with all those who take to the streets in their countries against rearmament and against conscription. We have already received the first messages of solidarity from other countries. We are pleased, and we would welcome the possibility of building an international network and promoting exchange in the future.
MV: After yesterday’s strike, what message do you want to send to the German government?
HK: That we will continue to make our voices heard. The struggle did not end with the approval of the law on the modernization of military service—on the contrary, it has only just begun. It is not in our interest to return to rearmament and compulsory military service. But the message must reach an even greater number of students and supporters from wide sectors of society. Only in this way will we have a chance to change things.
MV: Would you also like to say something to Italian students and young people?
HK: We must not passively accept everything. If your government wants to send you to war, go out, make yourselves heard, fight against this decision. We young Germans and Italians share the same interests: we do not want war, and we want to have a future. If we commit to this—each in our own country—we strengthen one another.
[1] Landesschüler*innenvertretung Nordrhein-Westfalen is the State Student Council of North Rhine–Westphalia. It represents secondary school students at the state level. Sozialistische Jugend Deutschlands – Die Falken is a socialist youth organization historically linked to the Social Democratic tradition. Sozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterjugend is the Socialist German Workers’ Youth, a youth organization close to the German Communist Party (DKP).
