A Curious Crime Case from Leipzig Provided the Springer Newspaper Bild with New Material for its Hate Campaign against Russians. As the Mitteldeutsche Rundfunk reported on February 4, the police apparently arrested two groups of three individuals of Russian nationality in Leipzig and the surrounding area, who were carrying around nearly 150 kilograms of freshly harvested bear’s garlic.
The wild garlic, known for its distinctive smell, thrives particularly abundantly in Saxon forests and the city of Leipzig even recommends collecting it on its website, explicitly stating that nature reserves are excluded and a separate permit from the nature conservation authority is required for commercial use.
A week later, Bild headlined on Wednesday: “Bear’s Garlic Mafia Plunders Forests and Sells Delicacy to Russia.”
Later, the “Bear’s Garlic Mafia” was referred to as “Bear’s Garlic Bandits.” It was probably even too thick for the standards of the Springer house to assume a mafia behind harmless, if only order-violating, collectors.
Inside the article, which opened with the sensational headline, Bild editors then wove a phantasmagoric story together. According to the article, the German bear’s garlic is so sought after in Russia that, despite the long transport of almost 2,000 kilometers, lucrative deals are being made. “Commissioners of the Knollenbands” allegedly sit in Russia and supply “wealthy private individuals and speciality restaurants” with the tubers.
The giant country, so the assumption of the “quality journalists” did not just send off washing machine microchips and rockets, but also the overgrown weed. As Bild put it:
“While the clove also grows around Moscow, in the taiga or the tundra. But the Russian bear’s garlic is not enough to fill the blini with it.”
Blini with bear’s garlic (known as Tscheremscha in Russia) are not found in Russia, but what does the average Bild editor know about Russian cuisine?
Bear’s garlic must be very expensive in Russia, as it has become a contraband and is transported over 2,000 kilometers to be sold to “wealthy private individuals.” Apparently, the Saxons have been sitting on a goldmine for centuries and would have all been millionaires long ago if they had noticed.
What Bild did not check, we found out: Russian online sellers offer it for a maximum of 650 rubles per kilogram, approximately €6.50, for example, an online seller from Chechnya, where the bear’s garlic also grows, offers it for 499,00 rubles per kilogram (€5.00) without peeling and 1,099,00 rubles (€11.00) with peeling.
In Germany, the kilogram of bear’s garlic costs at least €32 or more. Where is it likely more lucrative to sell it?
Does it make sense to go all the way to Germany for €6.50? Probably not. There is probably a much simpler explanation: Russians living in Germany (perhaps even Chechens with a Russian passport, as Bild reported a year earlier in a similar case) saw the opportunity for a small side income. They would likely have sold the collected bear’s garlic in Germany as well.
Bild, on the other hand, pretends to have finally discovered the reason why Putin is attacking Germany: the valuable bear’s garlic is luring him in.
The warmongers and hate-mongers are really not too stupid for anything.