Berlin - German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble issued a ban Wednesday on two groups he described as "rightwing extremist" and as "receptacles for Holocaust deniers."

"Rightwing extremism has many faces, among them young neo-Nazis and similarly old Nazis," Schaeuble said.

"They have in common their rejection of our free democratic principles."

The state was obliged to use its powers, as these "moral arsonists" were the breeding ground for racist violence, Schaeuble said.

The interior ministry said raids had been mounted early Wednesday on the premises used by the organizations in question and that material had been confiscated.

"The associations are receptacles of organized Holocaust deniers. Their activities consist of anti-Semitic propaganda and the glorification of Nazi tyranny," it said.

The ministry named the organizations as Collegium Humanum (CH), and in particular its subsidiary organization Bauernhilfe (Aid to Farmers), and an association to "rehabilitate those persecuted for denying the Holocaust," the VRBHV.

The CH was founded in the 1960s and has long been monitored by the domestic security services. The VRBHV is an associated organization. (dpa)