The term neo-Nazism describes any post-World War II militant, social or political movements seeking to revive the ideology ofNazism in whole or in part.[4][5]
Neo-Nazi writers have posited a spiritual, esoteric doctrine ofrace, which moves beyond the primarilyDarwinian-inspired materialistscientific racism popular mainly in theAnglosphere during the 20th century. Figures influential in the development of neo-Nazi racism,[citation needed] such asMiguel Serrano andJulius Evola (writers who are described by critics of Nazism such as theSouthern Poverty Law Center as influential within what it presents as parts of "the bizarre fringes of National Socialism, past and present"),[7] claim that theHyperborean ancestors of theAryans were in the distant past, far higher beings than their current state, having suffered from "involution" due to mixing with the "Telluric" peoples; supposed creations of theDemiurge. Within this theory, if the "Aryans" are to return to theGolden Age of the distant past, they need to awaken the memory of the blood. Anextraterrestrial origin of the Hyperboreans is often claimed. These theories draw influence fromGnosticism andTantrism, building on the work of theAhnenerbe. Within this racist theory, Jews are held up as the antithesis of nobility, purity and beauty.
TheAllied Control Council officially dissolved the NSDAP on 10 October 1945, marking the end of "Old" Nazism. A process ofdenazification began, and theNuremberg trials took place, where many major leaders and ideologues were condemned to death by October 1946, others committed suicide.
InAustria, national independence had been restored, and theVerbotsgesetz 1947 explicitly criminalised the NSDAP and any attempt at restoration.West Germany adopted a similar law to target parties it defined as anti-constitutional; Article 21 Paragraph 2 in theBasic Law, banning the SRP in 1952 for being opposed toliberal democracy.
As a consequence, some members of the nascent movement of German neo-Nazism joined theDeutsche Reichspartei of whichHans-Ulrich Rudel was the most prominent figure. Younger members founded theWiking-Jugend modelled after theHitler Youth. TheDeutsche Reichspartei stood for elections from 1953 until 1961 fetching around 1% of the vote each time.[citation needed] Rudel befriended French-bornSavitri Devi, who was a proponent ofEsoteric Nazism. In the 1950s she wrote a number of books, such asPilgrimage (1958), which concerns prominentThird Reich sites, andThe Lightning and the Sun (1958), in which she claims that Adolf Hitler was an avatar of the GodVishnu. She was not alone in this reorientation of Nazism towards itsThulean-roots; theArtgemeinschaft, founded by former SS member Wilhelm Kusserow, attempted to promote a newpaganism.[citation needed]In theGerman Democratic Republic (East Germany) a former member ofSA,Wilhelm Adam, founded theNational Democratic Party of Germany. It reached out to those attracted by the Nazi Party before 1945 and provide them with a political outlet, so that they would not be tempted to support the far-right again or turn to the anti-communist Western Allies.[citation needed]Joseph Stalin wanted to use them to create a new pro-Soviet and anti-Western strain in German politics.[11] According to top Soviet diplomat Vladimir Semyonov, Stalin even suggested that they could be allowed to continue publishing their own newspaper,Völkischer Beobachter.[11] While in Austria, former SS member Wilhelm Lang founded an esoteric group known as theVienna Lodge; he popularisedNazism and occultism such as theBlack Sun and ideas of Third Reich survival colonies below the polar ice caps.[citation needed]
With the onset of theCold War, the allied forces had lost interest in prosecuting anyone as part of the denazification.[12] In the mid-1950s this new political environment allowedOtto Strasser, an NS activist on the left of the NSDAP, who had founded theBlack Front to return from exile. In 1956, Strasser founded theGerman Social Union as a Black Front successor, promoting aStrasserite "nationalist and socialist" policy, which dissolved in 1962 due to lack of support. Other Third Reich associated groups were theHIAG andStille Hilfe dedicated to advancing the interests ofWaffen-SS veterans and rehabilitating them into the new democratic society. However, they did not claim to be attempting to restore Nazism, instead functioning as lobbying organizations for their members before the government and the two main political parties (the conservativeCDU/CSU and the Nazis' one-time archenemies, theSocial Democratic Party)
Many bureaucrats who served under the Third Reich continued to serve in German administration after the war. According to theSimon Wiesenthal Center, many of the more than 90,000 Nazi war criminals recorded in German files were serving in positions of prominence under ChancellorKonrad Adenauer.[13][14] Not until the 1960s were the former concentration camp personnel prosecuted byWest Germany in theBelzec trial,Frankfurt Auschwitz trials,Treblinka trials,Chełmno trials, and theSobibór trial.[15] However, the government had passed laws prohibiting Nazis from publicly expressing their beliefs.
Rockwell, an American conservative, was first politicised in theanti-communism and anti-racial integration movements before becoming anti-Jewish. In response to his opponents calling him a "Nazi", he theatrically appropriated the aesthetic elements of the NSDAP, to "own" the intended insult. In 1959, Rockwell founded theAmerican Nazi Party and instructed his members to dress in imitationSA-style brown shirts, while flying the flag of the Third Reich. In contrast to Yockey, he was pro-American and cooperated with FBI requests, despite the party being targeted byCOINTELPRO due to the mistaken belief that they were agents of Nasser's Egypt during a brief intelligence "brown scare".[nb 2] Later leaders of Americanwhite nationalism came to politics through the ANP, including a teenageDavid Duke andWilliam Luther Pierce of theNational Alliance, although they soon distanced themselves from explicit self-identification with neo-Nazism.[citation needed]
In 1961, theWorld Union of National Socialists was founded by Rockwell andColin Jordan of the BritishNational Socialist Movement, adopting theCotswold Declaration. French socialiteFrançoise Dior was involved romantically with Jordan and his deputyJohn Tyndall and a friend of Savitri Devi, who also attended the meeting. The National Socialist Movement wore quasi-SA uniforms, was involved in streets conflicts with the Jewish62 Group. In the 1970s, Tyndall's earlier involvement with neo-Nazism would come back to haunt theNational Front, which he led, as they attempted to ride a wave of anti-immigration populism and concerns over British national decline. Televised exposes onThis Week in 1974 andWorld in Action in 1978, showed their neo-Nazi pedigree and damaged their electoral chances. In 1967, Rockwell was killed by a disgruntled former member.Matthias Koehl took control of the ANP, and strongly influenced by Savitri Devi, gradually transformed it into an esoteric group known as theNew Order.[citation needed]
Holocaust denial, the claim thatsix million Jews were not deliberately and systematically exterminated as an official policy of the Third Reich and Adolf Hitler, became a more prominent feature of neo-Nazism in the 1970s. Before this time, Holocaust denial had long existed as a sentiment among neo-Nazis, but it had not yet been systematically articulated as a theory with a bibliographical canon. Few of the major theorists of Holocaust denial (who call themselves "revisionists") can be uncontroversially classified as outright neo-Nazis (though some works such as those ofDavid Irving forward a clearly sympathetic view of Hitler and the publisherErnst Zündel was deeply tied to international neo-Nazism), however, the main interest of Holocaust denial to neo-Nazis was their hope that it would help them rehabilitate their political ideology in the eyes of the general public.Did Six Million Really Die? (1974) byRichard Verrall andThe Hoax of the Twentieth Century (1976) byArthur Butz are popular examples of Holocaust denial material.
The radicalisation of Flemish activist groupVlaamse Militanten Orde in the 1970s energised international neo-Nazism.
Key developments in international neo-Nazism during this time include the radicalisation of theVlaamse Militanten Orde under formerHitler Youth memberBert Eriksson. They began hosting an annual conference; the "Iron Pilgrimage"; atDiksmuide, which drew kindred ideologues from across Europe and beyond. As well as this, theNSDAP/AO underGary Lauck arose in the United States in 1972 and challenged the international influence of the Rockwellite WUNS. Lauck's organisation drew support from theNational Socialist Movement of Denmark ofPovl Riis-Knudsen and various German and Austrian figures who felt that the "National Democratic" parties were too bourgeois and insufficiently Nazi in orientation. This includedMichael Kühnen,Christian Worch,Bela Ewald Althans andGottfried Küssel of the 1977-foundedANS/NS which called for the establishment of a GermanicFourth Reich. Some ANS/NS members were imprisoned for planning paramilitary attacks onNATO bases in Germany and planning to liberateRudolf Hess fromSpandau Prison. The organisation was officially banned in 1983 by the Minister of the Interior.
Serrano identified Aryan-Hyperborean blood as the "light of theBlack Sun", a symbol found at SS-cult siteWewelsburg Castle.
New developments also emerged on the esoteric level, as former Chilean diplomatMiguel Serrano built on the works ofCarl Jung,Otto Rahn,Wilhelm Landig,Julius Evola andSavitri Devi to bind together and develop already existing theories. Serrano had been a member of theNational Socialist Movement of Chile in the 1930s and from the early days of neo-Nazism, he had been in contact with key figures across Europe and beyond. Despite this, he was able to work as an ambassador to numerous countries until the rise ofSalvador Allende. In 1984 he published his bookAdolf Hitler: The Ultimate Avatar. Serrano claimed that the Aryans were extragalactic beings who foundedHyperborea and lived the heroic life ofBodhisattvas, while the Jews were created by theDemiurge and were concerned only with coarsematerialism. Serrano claimed that a newGolden Age can be attained if the Hyperboreans repurify their blood (supposedly the light of the Black Sun) and restore their "blood-memory." As with Savitri Devi before him, Serrano's works became a key point of reference in neo-Nazism.
Lifting of the Iron Curtain, 1990s–present
With the fall of theBerlin Wall and thecollapse of the Soviet Union during the early 1990s, neo-Nazism began to spread its ideas in the East, as hostility to the triumphant liberal order was high andrevanchism a widespread feeling. In Russia, during the chaos of the early 1990s, an amorphous mixture ofKGB hardliners, Orthodox neo-Tsarist nostalgics (i.e.,Pamyat) and explicit neo-Nazis found themselves strewn together in the same camp. They were united by opposition to the influence of the United States, against the liberalising legacy ofMikhail Gorbachev'sperestroika and on theJewish question,Soviet Zionology merged with a more explicit anti-Jewish sentiment. The most significant organisation representing this wasRussian National Unity under the leadership ofAlexander Barkashov, where black-uniform clad Russians marched with a red flag incorporating theSwastika under the banner ofRussia for Russians. These forces came together in a last gasp effort to save theSupreme Soviet of Russia againstBoris Yeltsin during the1993 Russian constitutional crisis. As well as events in Russia, in newly independent ex-Soviet states, annual commemorations for SS volunteers now took place; particularly inLatvia,Estonia andUkraine.
Members of theNational Bolshevik Party. "Nazbols" tailor ultra-nationalist themes to a native Russian environment while still employing Nazi aesthetics.
The Russian developments excited German neo-Nazism who dreamed of aBerlin–Moscow alliance against the supposedly "decadent"Atlanticist forces; a dream which had been thematic since the days of Remer.[citation needed] Zündel visited Russia and met with ex-KGB general Aleksandr Stergilov and other Russian National Unity members. Despite these initial aspirations, international neo-Nazism and its close affiliates in ultra-nationalism would be split over theBosnian War between 1992 and 1995, as part of thebreakup of Yugoslavia. The split would largely be along ethnic and sectarian lines. The Germans and the French would largely back the Western CatholicCroats (Lauck's NSDAP/AO explicitlycalled for volunteers, which Kühnen'sFree German Workers' Party answered and the French formed the "GroupeJacques Doriot"), while the Russians and the Greeks would back the OrthodoxSerbs (including Russians from Barkashov's Russian National Unity,Eduard Limonov'sNational Bolshevik Front andGolden Dawn members joined theGreek Volunteer Guard). Indeed, the revival ofNational Bolshevism was able to steal some of the thunder from overt Russian neo-Nazism, as ultra-nationalism was wedded with veneration ofJoseph Stalin in place of Adolf Hitler, while still also flirting with Nazi aesthetics.
Analogous European movements
Outside Germany, in other countries which were involved with theAxis powers and had their own native ultra-nationalist movements, which sometimes collaborated with the Third Reich but were not technically German-style National Socialists, revivalist and nostalgic movements have emerged in the post-war period which, as neo-Nazism has done in Germany, seek to rehabilitate their various loosely associated ideologies. These movements includeneo-fascists andpost-fascists in Italy; Vichyites, Pétainists and "national Europeans" in France;Ustaše sympathisers inCroatia; neo-Chetniks in Serbia;Iron Guard revivalists inRomania;Hungarists andHorthyists in Hungary and others.[16]
The most significant case on an international level was the election ofKurt Waldheim to the Presidency of Austria in 1986. It came to light that Waldheim had been a member of theNational Socialist German Students' League, the SA and served as an intelligence officer during the Second World War. Following this he served as an Austrian diplomat and was theSecretary-General of the United Nations from 1972 until 1981. After revelations of Waldheim's past were made by an Austrian journalist, Waldheim clashed with theWorld Jewish Congress on the international stage. Waldheim's record was defended byBruno Kreisky, an Austrian Jew who served as Chancellor of Austria. The legacy of the affair lingers on, asVictor Ostrovsky has claimed theMossad doctored the file of Waldheim to implicate him in war crimes.[citation needed]
Contemporary right-wing populism
Some critics have sought to draw a connection between Nazism and modernright-wing populism in Europe, but the two are not widely regarded as interchangeable by most academics. In Austria, theFreedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) served as a shelter for ex-Nazis almost from its inception.[17] In 1980, scandals undermined Austria's two main parties and the economy stagnated.Jörg Haider became leader of the FPÖ and offered partial justification forNazism, calling its employment policy effective. In the1994 Austrian election, the FPÖ won 22 percent of the vote, as well as 33 percent of the vote inCarinthia and 22 percent in Vienna; showing that it had become a force capable of reversing the old pattern of Austrian politics.[18]
HistorianWalter Laqueur writes that even though Haider welcomed former Nazis at his meetings and went out of his way to addressSchutzstaffel (SS) veterans, the FPÖ is not a fascist party in the traditional sense, since it has not madeanti-communism an important issue, and it does not advocate the overthrow of the democratic order or the use of violence. In his view, the FPÖ is "not quite fascist", although it is part of a tradition, similar to that of 19th-century Viennese mayorKarl Lueger, which involvesnationalism, xenophobic populism, and authoritarianism.[19] Haider, who in 2005 left the Freedom Party and formed theAlliance for Austria's Future, was killed in a traffic accident in October 2008.[20]
Barbara Rosenkranz, the Freedom Party's candidate inAustria's 2010 presidential election, was controversial for having made allegedly pro-Nazi statements.[21] Rosenkranz is married toHorst Rosenkranz, a key member of a banned neo-Nazi party, who is known for publishing far-right books. Rosenkranz says she cannot detect anything "dishonourable" in her husband's activities.[22]
A Belgian neo-Nazi organization,Bloed, Bodem, Eer en Trouw (Blood, Soil, Honour and Loyalty), was created in 2004 after splitting from the international network (Blood and Honour). The group rose to public prominence in September 2006, after 17 members (including 11 soldiers) were arrested under the December 2003anti-terrorist laws and laws against racism,antisemitism and supporters of censorship. According to Justice MinisterLaurette Onkelinx and Interior MinisterPatrick Dewael, the suspects (11 of whom were members of the military) were preparing to launch terrorist attacks in order to "destabilize"Belgium.[24] According to the journalist Manuel Abramowicz, of the Resistances,[25] the extremists of the radical right have always had as its aim to "infiltrate the state mechanisms," including the army in the 1970s and the 1980s, throughWestland New Post and theFront de la Jeunesse.[26]
A police operation, which mobilized 150 agents, searched five military barracks (inLeopoldsburg near the Dutch border, Kleine-Brogel,Peer, Brussels (Royal military school) andZedelgem) as well as 18 private addresses inFlanders. They found weapons, munitions, explosives and a homemade bomb large enough to make "a car explode". The leading suspect, B.T., was organizing the trafficking of weapons and was developing international links, in particular with the Dutch far-right movementDe Nationale Alliantie.[27]
On 13 February of every year since 2003, Bulgarian neo-Nazis and like-minded far-right nationalists gather atSofia to honorHristo Lukov, a late World War II general known for his antisemitic and pro-Nazi stance. From 2003 to 2019, the annual event was hosted by Bulgarian National Union.[31][32][33]
Neo-Nazis inCroatia base their ideology on the writings ofAnte Pavelić and theUstaše, afascist anti-Yugoslav separatist movement.[34] The Ustaše regime committed agenocide againstSerbs,Jews and Roma. At the end ofWorld War II, many Ustaše members fled to the West, where they found sanctuary and continued their political andterrorist activities (which were tolerated due toCold War hostilities).[35][36]
In 1999, Zagreb'sSquare of the Victims of Fascism was renamedCroatian Nobles Square, provoking widespread criticism of Croatia's attitude towards theHolocaust.[37] In 2000, theZagreb City Council again renamed the square intoSquare of the Victims of Fascism.[38] Many streets in Croatia were renamed after the prominent Ustaše figureMile Budak, which provoked outrage amongst the Serbian minority. Since 2002, there has been a reversal of this development, and streets with the name of Mile Budak or other persons connected with the Ustaše movement are few or non-existent.[39] A plaque inSlunj with the inscription "Croatian KnightJure Francetić" was erected to commemorate Francetić, the notorious Ustaše leader of the Black Legion. The plaque remained there for four years, until it was removed by the authorities.[39][40]
In 2003, Croatianpenal code was amended with provisions prohibiting the public display of Nazi symbols, the propagation of Nazi ideology,historical revisionism andholocaust denial but the amendments were annulled in 2004 since they were not enacted in accordance with a constitutionally prescribed procedure.[41] Nevertheless, since 2006 Croatian penal code explicitly prohibits any type ofhate crime based onrace,color,gender,sexual orientation, religion or national origin.[42]
There have been instances ofhate speech in Croatia, such as the use of the phraseSrbe na vrbe! ("[Hang] Serbs on thewillow trees!").[citation needed] In 2004, anOrthodox church wasspray-painted with pro-Ustaše graffiti.[43][44] During some protests in Croatia, supporters ofAnte Gotovina and other at the time suspectedwar criminals (all acquitted in 2012) have carriednationalist symbols and pictures of Pavelić.[45] On 17 May 2007, a concert in Zagreb byThompson, a popular Croatian singer, was attended by 60,000 people, some of them wearing Ustaše uniforms. Some gave Ustaše salutes and shouted the Ustaše slogan "Za dom spremni" ("For the homeland – ready!"). This event prompted theSimon Wiesenthal Center to publicly issue a protest to the Croatian president.[46][47][48][49][50] Cases of displaying Ustashe memorabilia have been recorded at theBleiburg commemoration held annually in Austria.[51]
The government of theCzech Republic strictly punishes neo-Nazism (Czech:Neonacismus). According to a report by theMinistry of the Interior of the Czech Republic, neo-Nazis committed more than 211 crimes in 2013. The Czech Republic has various neo-Nazi groups. One of them is the group Wotan Jugend, based in Germany.
Denmark
TheNational Socialist Movement of Denmark was formed in 1991, and was formally a neo-Nazi party, that would actively promote the Nazi ideology in Denmark. The party did not gain any political influence, and were regarded as a failed political project by neo-Nazi expert Frede Farmand.[52] Long time party leader Johnni Hansen was replaced by Esben Rohde Kristensen in 2010, which resulted in a large amount of party members leaving the party. While the party never has been formally dissolved, there has been very little activity from its core member since 2010.[53] Former neo-NaziDaniel Carlsen formed the small national partyParty of the Danes in 2011, which officially rejected Nazism, but were none the less categorized as such by professor in politics Peter Nedergaard.[54][55] It was dissolved in 2017 after its founderDaniel Stockholm announced retirement from politics.[56]
Estonia
In 2006, Roman Ilin, a Jewish theatre director fromSt. Petersburg, Russia, was attacked by neo-Nazis when returning from a tunnel after a rehearsal. Ilin subsequently accused Estonian police of indifference after filing the incident.[57] When a dark-skinned French student was attacked inTartu, the head of an association of foreign students claimed that the attack was characteristic of a wave of neo-Nazi violence. An Estonian police official, however, stated that there were only a few cases involving foreign students over the previous two years.[58] In November 2006, the Estonian government passed a law banning the display ofNazi symbols.[59]
The 2008United Nations Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur's Report noted that community representatives and non-governmental organizations devoted to human rights had pointed out that neo-Nazi groups were active in Estonia—particularly in Tartu—and had perpetrated acts of violence against non-European minorities.[60]
The skinhead culture gained momentum during the late 1980s and peaked during the late 1990s. In 1991, Finland received a number of Somali immigrants who became the main target of Finnish skinhead violence in the following years, including four attacks using explosives and a racist murder. Asylum seeker centres were attacked, inJoensuu skinheads would force their way into an asylum seeker centre and start shooting with shotguns. At worst Somalis were assaulted by 50 skinheads at the same time.[77][78]
The most prominent neo-Nazi group is theNordic Resistance Movement, which is tied to multiple murders, attempted murders and assaults of political enemies was found in 2006 and proscribed in 2019.[79] The second biggest Finnish party, theFinns Party politicians have frequently supported far-right and neo-Nazi movements such as the Finnish Defense League, Soldiers of Odin, Nordic Resistance Movement, Rajat Kiinni (Close the Borders), and Suomi Ensin (Finland First).[80] In the 1990s and 2000s, before the breakthrough of the Finns Party, a few neo-Nazi candidates enjoyed success, like Janne Kujala ofFinland - Fatherland (founded as Aryan Germanic Brotherhood) andJouni Lanamäki who was previously associated with theNordic Reich Party.[81][82] Pekka Siitoin of theNational Democratic Party was the fifth most popular candidate inNaantali city council elections.[83]
The NRM, Finns party and other far-right nationalist parties organize anannual torch march demonstration in Helsinki in memory of the Finnish SS-battalion on theFinnish independence day which ends at theHietaniemi cemetery where members visit the tomb ofCarl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim and the monument to the Finnish SS Battalion.[84][85] The event is protested by antifascists, leading to counterdemonstrators being violently assaulted by NRM members who act as security. The demonstration attracts close to 3,000 participants according to the estimates of the police and hundreds of officers patrol Helsinki to prevent violent clashes.[86][87][88][89]
In the aftermath of the Second World War, the main concern of the French radical right was the collapse of theFrench Empire, in particular theAlgerian War, which led to the creation of theOAS. Outside of this, individual fascistic activists such asMaurice Bardèche (brother-in-law ofRobert Brasillach), as well as SS-veteransSaint-Loup andRené Binet, were active in France and involved in theEuropean Social Movement and later theNew European Order, alongside similar groups from across Europe. Early neo-fascist groups includedJeune Nation, which introduced theCeltic cross into use by radical right groups (an association which would spread internationally). A "neither East, nor West" pan-Europeanism was most popular among French fascistic activists until the late 1960s, partly motivated by feelings of national vulnerability following the collapse of their empire; thus the Belgian SS-veteranJean-François Thiriart's groupJeune Europe also had a considerable French contingent.
Within the FN itself, Duprat founded the FANE-backedGroupes nationalistes révolutionnaires faction, until his 1978 assassination. The subsequent history of the French hard right has been the conflict between the national-conservative controlled FN and "national revolutionary" (fascistic and National Bolshevik) splinter or opposition groups. The latter include groups in the tradition of Thiriart and Duprat, such as theParti communautaire national-européen,Troisième voie, theNouvelle Résistance ofChristian Bouchet,[90]Unité Radicale and most recentlyBloc identitaire. Direct splits from the FN include the 1987 founded FANE-revivalParti nationaliste français et européen, which was disbanded in 2000. Neo-Nazi organizations are outlawed in the Fifth French Republic, yet a significant number of them still exist.[91]
Neo-Nazi demonstration inLeipzig, Germany, in October 2009
Following the failure of theNational Democratic Party of Germany in theelection of 1969, small groups committed to the revival of Nazi ideology began to emerge in Germany. The NPD splintered, giving rise to paramilitaryWehrsportgruppe. These groups attempted to organize under a national umbrella organization, theAction Front of National Socialists/National Activists.[92] Neo-Nazi movements inEast Germany began as a rebellion against the Communist regime; the banning of Nazi symbols helped neo-Nazism to develop as ananti-authoritarian youth movement.[93] Mail order networks developed to send illegal Nazi-themed musiccassettes and merchandise to Germany.[94]
Turks in Germany have been victims of neo-Nazi violence on several occasions. In 1992, two young girls were killed in theMölln arson attack along with their grandmother; nine others were injured.[95][96] In 1993, five Turks were killed in theSolingen arson attack.[97] In response to the fire Turkish youth in Solingen rioted chanting "Nazis out!" and "We want Nazi blood". In other parts of Germany police had to intervene to protectskinheads from assault.[98] TheHoyerswerda riots andRostock-Lichtenhagen riots targeting migrants and ethnic minorities living in Germany also took place during the 1990s.[92]
Between 2000 and 2007, eight Turkish immigrants, oneGreek German and a German policewoman were murdered by the neo-NaziNational Socialist Underground.[99] The NSU has its roots in the former East German area ofThuringia, whichThe Guardian identified as "one of the heartlands of Germany's radical right". The German intelligence services have been criticized for extravagant distributions of cash to informants within the far-right movement. Tino Brandt publicly boasted on television that he had received around €100,000 in funding from the German state. Though Brandt did not give the state "useful information", the funding supported recruitment efforts in Thuringia during the early 1990s. (Brandt was eventually sentenced to five and a half years in prison on for 66 counts ofchild prostitution andchild sexual abuse).[100]
Police were only able to locate the killers when they were tipped off following a botched bank robbery inEisenach. As the police closed in on them, the two men committed suicide. They had evaded capture for 13 years.Beate Zschäpe, who had been living with the two men inZwickau, turned herself in to the German authorities a few days later. Zschäpe's trial began in May 2013; she was charged with nine counts of murder. She pleaded "not guilty". According toThe Guardian, the NSU may have enjoyed protection and support from certain "elements of the state".Anders Behring Breivik, a fan of Zschäpe's, reportedly sent her a letter from prison in 2012.[100]
According to the annual report of Germany's interior intelligence service (Verfassungsschutz) for 2012, at the time there were 26,000 right-wing extremists living in Germany, including 6,000 neo-Nazis.[101] In January 2020, Combat 18 was banned in Germany, and raids directed against the organization were made across the country.[102] In March 2020, United German Peoples and Tribes, which is part ofReichsbürger, a neo-Nazi movement that rejects the German state as a legal entity, was raided by the German police.[103]Holocaust denial is a crime, according to the German Criminal Code (Strafgesetzbuch § 86a) and§ 130 (public incitement).[citation needed]
Greece
This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(April 2024)
The far-right political partyGolden Dawn (Χρυσή Αυγή – Chrysi Avyi) is generally labelled neo-Nazi, although the group rejects this label.[104] A few Golden Dawn members participated in theBosnian War in theGreek Volunteer Guard (GVG) and were present inSrebrenica during theSrebrenica massacre.[105][106] The party has its roots in Papadopoulos' regime.
There is often collaboration between the state and neo-Nazi elements in Greece.[107] In 2018, during the trial of sixty-nine members of the Golden Dawn party, evidence was presented of the close ties between the party and theHellenic Police.[108]
Golden Dawn has spoken out in favour of theAssad regime in Syria,[109] and the Strasserist group Black Lily have claimed to have sent mercenaries to Syria to fight alongside the Syrian regime, specifically mentioning their participation in theBattle of al-Qusayr.[110] In the6 May 2012 legislative election, Golden Dawn received 6.97% of the votes, entering the Greek parliament for the first time with 21 representatives, but when the elected parties were unable to form acoalition government asecond election was held in June 2012. Golden Dawn received 6.92% of the votes in the June election and entered theGreek parliament with 18 representatives.
Since 2008, neo-Nazi violence in Greece has targetedimmigrants,leftists andanarchist activists. In 2009, certain far-right groups announced thatAgios Panteleimonas in Athens was off limits to immigrants. Neo-Nazi patrols affiliated with the Golden Dawn party began attacking migrants in this neighborhood. The violence continued escalating through 2010.[107] In 2013, after the murder ofanti-fascist rapperPavlos Fyssas, the number ofhate crimes in Greece declined for several years until 2017. Many of the crimes in 2017 have been attributed to other groups like the Crypteia Organisation and Combat 18 Hellas.[108]
Hungary
"Hungaria Skins" with a flag evoking the Arrow Cross in 1997
In modern Hungary, the ultranationalistJobbik is regarded by some scholars as a neo-Nazi party; for example, it has been termed as such byRandolph L. Braham.[111] The party denies being neo-Nazi, although "there is extensive proof that the leading members of the party made no effort to hide their racism and anti-Semitism."[112] Rudolf Paksa, a scholar of the Hungarian far-right, describes Jobbik as "anti-Semitic, racist, homophobic and chauvinistic" but not as neo-Nazi because it does not pursue the establishment of a totalitarian regime.[112] HistorianKrisztián Ungváry writes that "It is safe to say that certain messages of Jobbik can be called open neo-Nazi propaganda. However, it is quite certain that the popularity of the party is not due to these statements."[113]
TheNational Socialist Irish Workers Party, a small party, was active between 1968 and the late 1980s, producing neo-Nazi propaganda pamphlets and sending threatening messages to Jews and Black people living in Ireland.[114]
Under thePolish Constitution promoting any totalitarian system such asNazism,fascism, orcommunism, as well as inciting violence and/or racial hatred is illegal.[126] This was further re-enforced in thePolish Penal Code where discrediting any group or persons on national, religious, or racial grounds carries a sentence of 3 years.[127]
Although several small far-right and anti-semitic organisations exist, most notablyNOP andONR (both of which exist legally), they frequently adhere toPolish nationalism andNational Democracy, in which Nazism is generally considered to be againstultra-nationalist principles, and although they are classed asnationalist andfascist movements, they are at the same time considered anti-Nazi. Some of their elements may resemble neo-Nazi features, but these groups frequently dissociate themselves from Nazi elements, claiming that such acts are unpatriotic and they argue that Nazism misappropriated or slightly altered several pre-existing symbols and features, such as distinguishing theRoman salute from theNazi salute.[128]
Self-declared neo-Nazi movements in Poland frequently treat Polish culture and traditions with contempt, areanti-Christian and translate various texts from German, meaning they are considered movements favouringGermanisation.[129]
According to several reporter investigations, the Polish government turns a blind eye to these groups, and they are free to spread their ideology, frequently dismissing their existence asconspiracy theories, dismissing acts political provocations, deeming them too insignificant to pose a threat, or attempting to justify or diminish the seriousness of their actions.[130][131][132][133]
A neo-Nazi in Russia. The photograph was taken at an anti-gay demonstration in Moscow in October 2010.
Some observers have noted a subjective irony of Russians embracing Nazism, because one of Hitler's ambitions at the start ofWorld War II was theGeneralplan Ost (Master Plan East) which envisaged to exterminate, expel, or enslave most or all Slavs from central and eastern Europe (e.g., Russians, Ukrainians, Poles etc.).[134] At the end of theNazi invasion of the Soviet Union, over 25 million Soviet citizens had died.[135]
The first reports ofneo-Nazi organizations in the USSR appeared in the second half of the 1950s. In some cases, the participants were attracted primarily by the aesthetics of Nazism (rituals, parades, uniforms, the cult of physical fitness, architecture). Other organizations were more interested in the ideology of the Nazis, their program, and the image ofAdolf Hitler.[136] The formation of neo-Nazism in the USSR dates back to the turn of the 1960s and 1970s; during this period, these organizations still preferred to operate underground.
ModernRussian neo-paganism took shape in the second half of the 1970s[137] and is associated with the activities of supporters of antisemitism, especially the Moscow ArabistValery Yemelyanov (also known as "Velemir") and the former dissident and neo-Nazi activistAlexey Dobrovolsky (also known as "Dobroslav").
In Soviet times, the founder of the movement ofPeterburgian Vedism (a branch of Slavic neopaganism) Viktor Bezverkhy (Ostromysl) revered Hitler andHeinrich Himmler and propagatedracial andantisemitic theories in a narrow circle of his students, calling for the deliverance of mankind from "inferior offspring", allegedly arising frominterracial marriages. He called such "inferior people" "bastards", referred to them as "Zhyds, Indians or gypsies andmulattoes" and believed that they prevent society from achieving social justice.
In 1982, on Hitler's birthday, a group of Moscow high school students held a Nazi demonstration onPushkinskaya Square.[138]
Russian National Unity (RNE) was a neo-Nazi group founded in 1990 and was led byAlexander Barkashov, who claimed to have members in 250 cities. RNE adopted the swastika as its symbol, and sees itself as the avant-garde of a coming national revolution. It is critical of other major far-right organizations, such as theLiberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR). As of 1997, the members RNE were called Soratnik (comrades in arms), receive combat training at locations near Moscow, and many of them work as security officers or armed guards.[140] RNE was banned in 1999 by Moscow's court in 1999,[141] after which the group faded away.[142][143]
In 2007, it was claimed that Russian neo-Nazis accounted for "half of the world's total".[144][145]
On 15 August 2007, Russian authorities arrested a student for allegedly posting a video on the Internet which appears to show two migrant workers being beheaded in front of a red and black swastika flag.[146] Alexander Verkhovsky, the head of a Moscow-based center that monitorshate crime in Russia, said, "It looks like this is the real thing. The killing is genuine ... There are similar videos from the Chechen war. But this is the first time the killing appears to have been done intentionally."[147]
Atomwaffen Division Russland is a neo-Nazi terrorist group in Russia found by Russian officials to have been tied to multiple mass murder plots. AWDR was founded by former members of defunctNational Socialist Society responsible for 27 murders and AWDR is connected to local chapter of the Order of Nine Angles responsible for rapes, ritual murders and drug trafficking. The Russian authorities raided an Atomwaffen compound inUlan-Ude and uncovered illegal weapons and explosives.[148][149][150][151]
Serbia
An example of neo-Nazism in Serbia is the groupNacionalni stroj. In 2006 charges were brought against 18 leading members.[152][153][154] Besides political parties, there are a few militant neo-Nazi organizations in Serbia, such asBlood & Honour Serbia andCombat 18.[155]
The Slovak political partyKotlebists – People's Party Our Slovakia, which is represented in theNational Council andEuropean Parliament, is widely characterized as neo-Nazi.[156][157][158] Kotleba has softened its image over time and now disputes that is fascist or neo-Nazi, even suing a media outlet that described it as neo-Nazi. As of 2020, the party spokesperson was Ondrej Durica, a former member of the neo-Nazi bandBiely Odpor (White Resistance). 2020 candidate Andrej Medvecky was convicted of attacking a black man while shouting racial slurs; another candidate, Anton Grňo, was fined for making afascist salute. The party still celebrates 14 March, the anniversary of the founding of the fascist firstSlovak Republic.[159] In 2020, party leaderMarian Kotleba was facing trial for writing checks for 1,488 euros, alleged to be a reference toFourteen Words andHeil Hitler.[160]
According to a study by thenewspaperABC,black people are the ones who have suffered the most attacks by neo-Nazi groups, followed byMaghrebis andLatin Americans. They have also caused deaths in the anti-fascist group, such as the murder of the Madrid-born sixteen-year-oldCarlos Palomino on 11 November 2007, stabbed with a knife by a soldier in theLegazpi metro station (Madrid).[163]
There have been other neo-Nazi cultural organizations such as theSpanish Circle of Friends of Europe (CEDADE) and the Circle of Indo-European Studies (CEI).[164]
The extreme right has little electoral support, with the presence of these groups of 0.36% (if thePlataforma per Catalunya (PxC) party is excluded with 66007 votes (0.39%), according to the voting data of the European elections of 2014. The first extreme right partyFE de las JONS obtains 0.13% of the votes (21 577 votes), after doubling its results after the crisis; this is followed by the far-right party La España en Marcha (LEM) with 0.1% of the votes,National Democracy (DN) of the far-right with 0.08%,Republican Social Movement (MSR) (far-right) with 0.05% of the votes.[165]
Sweden
Neo-Nazi activities in Sweden have previously been limited towhite supremacist groups, few of which have a membership over a few hundred members.[166] The main neo-Nazi organization is theNordic Resistance Movement, a political movement which engages in martial arts training and paramilitary exercises[167] and which has been called a terrorist group.[168] They are also active inNorway andDenmark; the branch inFinland was banned in 2019.
The neo-Nazi andwhite power skinhead scene in Switzerland has seen significant growth in the 1990s and 2000s.[169] It is reflected in the foundation of thePartei National Orientierter Schweizer in 2000, which resulted in an improved organizational structure of the neo-Nazi and white supremacist scene.
Some far-right groups and elements, including some with neo-Nazi affiliations and symbolism, were presented in Ukrainian nationalist movements. They participated in the Euromaidan protests and the initial stages of the war in Donbas. Their political influence however has remained marginal, with far-right parties consistently failing to secure significant electoral representation. Some of their leaders took government positions, abandoning their neo-Nazi or far-right associations, and positioning themselves as defenders of Ukraine. Russian propaganda has exaggerated the far-right’s role to legitimize Russia's military aggression, despite these groups being largely integrated into Ukraine’s formal military structures.[170]
In 1991, theSocial-National Party of Ukraine (SNPU) was founded.[171] The party combinedradical nationalism and neo-Nazi features.[172] The SNPU was characterized as aradical right-wing populist party that combined elements ofethnic ultranationalism andanti-communism. During the 1990s, it was accused of neo-Nazism due to the party's recruitment ofskinheads and usage of neo-Nazi symbols.[173][174] WhenOleh Tyahnybok was elected party leader in 2004, he made efforts to moderate the party's image by changing the party's name toAll-Ukrainian Association "Svoboda", changing its symbols and expelling neo-Nazi andneofascist groups.[175][173] According to radicalism researchersAnton Shekhovtsov andAndreas Umland, extreme far-right in Ukraine are extremely weak and marginal force. Right-wing movements researcherVyacheslav Likhachev notes that the number of Nazi skinheads in 2008 was less than two thousand, which, compared to 20 to 35 thousands skinheads in Russia, makes a substantially lower proportion.[173] According toThe Nation journalist James Carden, in 2016 "neo-Nazis (or neo-fascists, if you prefer) are a distinctly minority taste in Western Ukraine".[176] In 2015, Konotop residents elected Artem Semenikhin, a Svoboda party member accused of neo-Nazi sympathies, as a mayor, because, according to Likhachev, he "created himself an image of a defender of Ukrainian independence";[177] however, Eduard Dolinsky of theUkrainian Jewish Committee stated that Konotop was a "clear case" of anti-Semites being elected in local governing bodies.[172]
TheAzov Battalion, founded in 2014, has been described as a far-right militia,[178][179] with connections to neo-Nazism[180] and members wearing neo-Nazi andSS symbols and regalia, as well as expressing neo-Nazi views.[181][182]
According to Vyacheslav Likhachev of theInstitut français des relations internationales, members of far-right (including neo-Nazi) groups played an important role on the pro-Russian side, arguably more so than on the Ukrainian side, especially during early 2014.[183][184] Members and former members of theNational Bolshevik Party,Russian National Unity (RNU),Eurasian Youth Union, andCossack groups participated in recruitment of the separatists.[183][185][186][187] A former RNU member,Pavel Gubarev, was founder of the Donbas People's Militia and first "governor" of the Donetsk People's Republic.[183][188] RNU is particularly linked to theRussian Orthodox Army,[183] one of a number of separatist units described as "pro-Tsarist" and "extremist" Orthodox nationalists.[189][183] 'Rusich' is part of theWagner Group, a Russian mercenary group in Ukraine which has been linked to far-right extremism.[190][191] Afterward, the pro-Russian far-right groups became less important in Donbas and the need for Russian radical nationalists started to disappear.[183]
The radical nationalist groupС14, whose members openly expressed neo-Nazi views, gained notoriety in 2018 for being involved in violent attacks onRomany camps.[192][193][194]
John Tyndall, a long-term neo-Nazi activist in the UK, led a break-away from theNational Front to form an openly neo-Nazi party named theBritish National Party.[197] In the 1990s, the party formed a group for protecting its meetings namedCombat 18,[198] which later grew too violent for the party to control and began to attack members of the BNP who were not perceived as supportive of neo-Nazism.[199] Under the subsequent leadership ofNick Griffin, the BNP distanced itself from neo-Nazism, although many members (including Griffin himself) have been accused of links to other neo-Nazi groups.[200]
Several neo-Nazi groups were active in Iran, although they are now defunct. Advocates of Nazism continue to exist in Iran and are mainly based on the Internet.[205][206]
Israel
Neo-Nazi activity is not common or widespread in Israel, and the few reported activities have all been the work of extremists, who were punished severely. One notable case is that ofPatrol 36, a cell inPetah Tikva made up of eight teenage immigrants from the former Soviet Union who had been attacking foreign workers and gay people, and vandalizing synagogues with Nazi images.[207][208] These neo-Nazis were reported to have operated in cities across Israel, and have been described as being influenced by the rise of neo-Nazism in Europe;[207][208][209] mostly influenced by similar movements in Russia and Ukraine, as the rise of the phenomenon is widely credited to immigrants from those two states, the largest sources of emigration to Israel.[210] Widely publicized arrests have led to a call to reform theLaw of Return to permit the revocation of Israeli citizenship for—and the subsequent deportation of—neo-Nazis.[208]
Japan
Since 1982, the neo-NaziNational Socialist Japanese Workers' Party has operated in Japan, currently under the leadership of Kazunari Yamada, who has praised Hitler and denied the Holocaust.[211]
Mongolia
Flag of the Dayar Mongol, a neo-Nazi party in Mongolia
From 2008, Mongolian neo-Nazi groups have defaced buildings inUlaanbaatar, smashed Chinese shopkeepers' windows, and killed Chinese immigrants. The neo-Nazi Mongols' targets for violence are Chinese,Koreans,[212] Mongol women who have sex with Chinese men, andLGBT people.[213] They wear Nazi uniforms and revere theMongol Empire andGenghis Khan. Though Tsagaan Khass leaders say they do not support violence, they are self-proclaimed Nazis. "Adolf Hitler was someone we respect. He taught us how to preserve national identity," said the 41-year-old co-founder, who calls himself Big Brother. "We don't agree with his extremism and starting the Second World War. We are against all those killings, but we support his ideology. We support nationalism rather than fascism." Some have ascribed it to poorhistorical education.[212]
TheNational Socialism Association (NSA) is a neo-Nazi political organisation founded inTaiwan in September 2006 by Hsu Na-chi (Chinese:許娜琦), at that time a 22-year-old femalepolitical science graduate ofSoochow University. The NSA has an explicit stated goal of obtaining the power to govern the state. TheSimon Wiesenthal Centre condemned the National Socialism Association on 13 March 2007 for championing the formerNazi dictator and blaming democracy forsocial unrest in Taiwan.[214]
National Front Party (Ulusal Cephe Partisi) adheres to neo-Nazism, spreads Nazi material translated into Turkish and targets Jews, Arabs and Africans. National Front Party has about 1000 members and is affiliated with the racistVictory Party (Turkey).[228]
The neo-Nazi Ataman Brotherhood (Ataman Kardeşliği) patrols streets in Turkey and attacks Syrian and Afghan refugees.[229]
Don Andrews founded theNationalist Party of Canada in 1977. The purported goals of the unregistered party are "the promotion and maintenance of European Heritage and Culture in Canada," but the party is known for anti-Semitism and racism. Many influential neo-Nazi Leaders, such asWolfgang Droege, were affiliated with the party, but many of its members left to join theHeritage Front, which was founded in 1989.[244]
Droege founded the Heritage Front inToronto at a time when leaders of the white supremacist movement were "disgruntled about the state of the radical right" and wanted to unite unorganized groups of white supremacists into an influential and efficient group with common objectives.[244] Plans for the organization began in September 1989, and the formation of the Heritage Front was formally announced a couple of months later in November. In the 1990s,George Burdi ofResistance Records and the bandRahowa popularized the Creativity movement and thewhite power music scene.[245]
On September 18, 2020, Toronto Police arrested 34-year-old Guilherme "William" Von Neutegem and charged him with the murder of Mohamed-Aslim Zafis. Zafis was the caretaker of a local mosque who was found dead with his throat cut. The Toronto Police Service said the killing is possibly connected to the stabbing murder of Rampreet Singh a few days prior a short distance from the spot where Zafis' murder took place. Von Neutegem is a member of theOrder of Nine Angles and social media accounts established as belonging to him promote the group and included recordings of Von Neutegem performing satanic chants. In his home there was also an altar with the symbol of the O9A adorning a monolith.[246] According to Evan Balgord of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network, they are aware of more O9A members in Canada and their affiliated organization Northern Order.[247][248]Northern Order is a proscribed[249] neo-Nazi terrorist organization in Canada. NO members have been arrested for trafficking explosives and firearms, and NO has active members of the Canadian Armed Forces as its members and even a member of theCJIRU was identified as a member.[250][251][252]
Controversy and dissention has left many Canadian neo-Nazi organizations dissolved or weakened.[244]
After the dissolution of theNational Socialist Movement of Chile (MNSCH) in 1938, notable former members of MNSCH migrated intoPartido Agrario Laborista (PAL), obtaining high positions.[253] Not all former MNSCH members joined the PAL; some continued to form parties that followed the MNSCH model until 1952.[253] A new old-school Nazi party was formed in 1964 by school teacher Franz Pfeiffer.[253] Among the activities of this group were the organization of aMiss Nazi beauty contest and the formation of a Chilean branch of theKu Klux Klan.[253] The party disbanded in 1970. Pfeiffer attempted to restart it in 1983 in the wake of a wave of protests against theAugusto Pinochet regime.[253]
Nicolás Palacios considered the "Chilean race" to be a mix of two bellicose master races: theVisigoths of Spain and theMapuche (Araucanians) of Chile.[254] Palacios traces the origins of the Spanish component of the "Chilean race" to the coast of theBaltic Sea, specifically toGötaland in Sweden,[254] one of the supposedhomelands of theGoths. Palacios claimed that both the blonde-haired and the bronze-coloured ChileanMestizo share a "moral physonomy" and a masculine psychology.[255] He opposed immigration from Southern Europe, and argued that Mestizos who are derived from south Europeans lack "cerebral control" and are a social burden.[256]
Costa Rica
Several fringe neo-Nazi groups have existed inCosta Rica, some with online presence since around 2003.[257][258] The groups normally target Jewish Costa Ricans,Afro-Costa Ricans,Communists, gay people and especially Nicaraguan and Colombian immigrants. In 2012 the media discovered the existence of a neo-Nazi police officer inside thePublic Force of Costa Rica, for which he was fired and would later commit suicide in April 2016 due to lack of job opportunities and threats fromanti-fascists.[259][260][261][262]
In 2018, a series of pages on thesocial network Facebook of neo-Nazi inclination openly or discreetly carried out a vast campaign instigatingxenophobic hatred by recycling old news or postingfake news to take advantage of an anti-immigrant sentiment after three homicides of tourists allegedly committed by migrants (although from one of the homicides the suspect is Costa Rican).[264] A rally against the country's migration policy was held on 19 August 2018, in which neo-Nazi andhooligans took part. Although not all participants were linked these groups and the majority of participants were peaceful, the protest turned violent and thePublic Force intervened with 44 arrested (36 Costa Ricans and the rest Nicaraguans).[265][266] Authorities confiscated sharp weapons,Molotov cocktails and other items from the neo-Nazis, who also carried swastika flags.[267] A subsequent anti-xenophobic march and solidarity with the Nicaraguan refugees was organized a week later with more assistance. A second anti-migration demonstration, with the explicit exclusion of neo-Nazis and hooligans, was carried out in September with similar assistance.[268] In 2019 Facebook pages of extreme right-wing tendencies and anti-immigration position asDeputy 58,Costa Rican Resistance andSalvation Costa Rica called an anti-government demonstration on 1 May with small attendance.[269][270]
Peru
Peru has been home to a handful of neo-Nazi groups, most notably the National Socialist Movement "Peru Awake", the National Socialist Tercios of New Castile, and the Peruvian National Socialist Union.[271][272][273]
The ideology ofJames H. Madole, leader of theNational Renaissance Party, was influenced byBlavatskian Theosophy.Helena Blavatsky developed a racial theory ofevolution, holding that thewhite race was the "fifth rootrace" called theAryan Race. According to Blavatsky, Aryans had been preceded by Atlanteans who had perished in the flood that sunk the continentAtlantis. The three races that preceded the Atlanteans, in Blavatsky's view, were proto-humans; these were theLemurians,Hyperboreans and the first Astral rootrace. It was on this foundation that Madole based his claims that the Aryan Race has been worshiped as "White Gods" since time immemorial and proposed a governance structure based on the HinduLaws of Manu and its hierarchicalcaste system.[275]
Organizations and individuals
There are several neo-Nazi groups in the United States. TheNational Socialist Movement (NSM), with about 400 members in 32 states,[276] is currently the largest neo-Nazi organization in the US.[277] After World War II, new organizations formed with varying degrees of support for Nazi principles. TheNational States' Rights Party, founded in 1958 by Edward Reed Fields andJ. B. Stoner, counteredracial integration in the Southern United States with Nazi-inspired publications and iconography. TheAmerican Nazi Party, founded byGeorge Lincoln Rockwell in 1959, achieved high-profile coverage in the press through its public demonstrations.[278]
In 2025, businessmanElon Musk's comments and remarks linked his relations with antisemitism conspiracy theories were criticized by international governments and several media outlets over the years.[281]
Between freedom of speech and national security threats
TheFirst Amendment to the United States Constitution guaranteesfreedom of speech, which the courts have interpreted very broadly to includehate speech, severely limiting the government's authority to suppress it.[282] This allows political organizations great latitude in expressing Nazi, racist, and antisemitic views. A landmark First Amendment case wasNational Socialist Party of America v. Village of Skokie, in which neo-Nazis threatened to march in a predominantly Jewish suburb of Chicago. The march never took place in Skokie, but the court ruling allowed the neo-Nazis to stage a series of demonstrations in Chicago.
Organizations which report upon neo-Nazi activities in the U.S., which may involve attacking and harassing minorities, include the American organizationsAnti-Defamation League and theSouthern Poverty Law Center.[283]
In 1998, a group of people belonging to the "Joseph Goebbels Movement" tried to burn down a synagogue, which also served as a Hebrew school, in the Pocitos neighborhood ofMontevideo in Uruguay; anantisemitic pamphlet signed by the group was found in the building after the quick action of firefighters saved it. Another group, the racist and antisemitic neo-NaziEuroamerikaners group, founded in 1996, said when they were interviewed by the newspaperLa República de Montevideo that they had no involvement with the attack on the synagogue, but revealed that they maintain contacts with a group calledPoder Blanco ("White Power"), also Uruguayan, as well as with neo-Nazi groups fromArgentina and several European countries. Through the Internet they have received the solidarity of thePatria pro-fascist group, based in Spain. They also said that in the city ofCanelones, Uruguay, fifty kilometers from Montevideo, there is a clandestine "Aryan church" which uses rituals taken from theKu Klux Klan. TheEuroamerikaners declared that they did not tolerate interracial or gay couples. One of the militants said in the interview that "... if we see a black man with a white woman, we break them up ...". Other neo-Nazi incidents in Uruguay in 1998 included the bombing of a Jewish-owned small business in February, which injured two people, and the appearance of posters celebrating the anniversary of Hitler's birthday in April.[286]
White supremacist organisations active in Australia as of 2016 included local chapters of the Aryan Nations.[290]Blair Cottrell, former leader of theUnited Patriots Front, has tried to distance himself from neo-Nazism, but he has nevertheless been accused of expressing "pro-Nazi views".[291]Australian Security Intelligence Organisation directorMike Burgess said in February 2020 that neo-Nazis pose a "real threat" to Australia's security. Burgess maintained that there is a growing threat from the extreme right, and that its supporters "regularly meet to salute Nazi flags, inspect weapons, train in combat and share their hateful ideology".[292] In June 2022, the Australian stateVictoria banned display of the swastika symbol. Under the new law, individuals who intentionally exhibit the symbol may face up to a year in jail or a A$22,000 (£12,300; $15,000) fine. The state of Victoria already has laws against hate speech, but they have been criticized for having weaknesses. The call for reform of these laws grew stronger in 2020 when a couple flew a swastika flag over their home, causing outrage in the community."[293]
^Some of the fascistic old-guard from the pre-war ultra-nationalist movements were more skeptical of the benefits of the Rockwell-Jordan uniform scene.Oswald Mosley of theUnion Movement described Jordan as, "a midget trying to walk in the boots of giants." Meanwhile, Yockeyism leaned more to the left than the "official" fascistic Pan-Europeanism of those which would become theEuropean Social Movement. The latter associated with Mosley,Maurice Bardèche and others upheld a strictly "neither East, nor West", third position in regards to Soviet and American power.
^While the intelligence claims in regards to the Rockwell's American costume group proved unfounded, a number of actual German Nazis did relocate to the Middle East, some converted to Islam and changed their names; particularly Egypt and Syria. This includesJohann von Leers,Alois Brunner,Aribert Heim,Franz Stangl,Gerhard Mertins,Hans Eisele,Walter Rauff,Artur Schmitt and others. The father of Neo-Nazism, Otto Ernst Remer, also fled to Egypt, then Syria during the 1950s.
Citations
^Gay, Kathlyn (1997)Neo-Nazis: A Growing Threat. Enslow. p. 114.ISBN978-0894909016. Quote: "Neo-Nazis ... use fear and violence in their efforts to destroy minorities. Their goal is toestablish a "superior" society."(emphasis added)
^*Werner Bergmann; Rainer Erb (1997).Anti-Semitism in Germany: The Post-Nazi Epoch Since 1945. Transaction Publishers. p. 91.ISBN978-1-56000-270-3.OCLC35318351.Archived from the original on 20 February 2021. Retrieved14 August 2015.In contrast to today, in which rigid authoritarianism and neo-Nazism are characteristic of marginal groups, open or latent leanings toward Nazi ideology in the 1940s and 1950s
Martin Polley (2000).A–Z of Modern Europe Since 1789. Routledge. pp. 103.ISBN978-0-415-18597-4.OCLC49569961.Neo-Nazism, drawing heavily both on the ideology and aesthetics of the NSDAP, emerged in many parts of Europe and elsewhere in the economic crises of the 1970s, and has continued to influence a number of small political groups.
"Neo-Nazism". ApologeticsIndex. 16 December 2005.Archived from the original on 3 January 2006. Retrieved12 December 2007.The term Neo-Nazism refers to any social, political and/or (quasi) religious movement seeking to revive Nazism. Neo-Nazi groups are racist hate groups that pattern themselves after Hitler's philosophies. Examples include: Aryan Nations, National Alliance
Brigitte Bailer-Galanda; Wolfgang Neugebauer."Right-Wing Extremism in Austria: History, Organisations, Ideology". Archived fromthe original on 17 January 2012.Right-wing extremism can be equated neither with Nazism nor with neo-Fascism or neo-Nazism. Neo-Nazism, a legal term, is understood as the attempt to propagate, in direct defiance of the law (Verbotsgesetz), Nazi ideology or measures such as the denial, playing-down, approval or justification of Nazi mass murder, especially the Holocaust.
Martin Frost."Neo Nazism". Archived fromthe original on 27 October 2007.The term neo-Nazism refers to any social or political movement seeking to revive National Socialism, and which postdates the Second World War. Often, especially internationally, those who are part of such movements do not use the term to describe themselves.
Lee, Martin A. 1997.The Beast Reawakens. Boston: Little, Brown and Co, pp. 85–118, 214–34, 277–81, 287–330, 333–78. OnVolk concept, and a discussion of ethnonationalist integralism, see pp. 215–18
^*Peter Vogelsang; Brian B. M. Larsen (2002)."Neo-Nazism". The Danish Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies. Archived fromthe original on 9 November 2007. Retrieved8 December 2007.Neo-Nazism is the name for a modern offshoot of Nazism. It is a radically right-wing ideology, whose main characteristics are extreme nationalism and violent xenophobia. Neo-Nazism is, as the word suggests, a modern version of Nazism. In general, it is an incoherent right-extremist ideology, which is characterised by 'borrowing' many of the elements that constituted traditional Nazism.
Ondřej Cakl; Klára Kalibová (2002)."Neo-Nazism". Faculty of Humanities at Charles University in Prague, Department of Civil Society Studies.Archived from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved8 December 2007.Neo-Nazism: An ideology which draws upon the legacy of the Nazi Third Reich, the main pillars of which are an admiration for Adolf Hitler, aggressive nationalism ("nothing but the nation"), and hatred of Jews, foreigners, ethnic minorities, homosexuals and everyone who is different in some way.
^abZubok, V. M. (Vladislav Martinovich) (2007).A failed empire: the Soviet Union in the Cold War from Stalin to Gorbachev. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. pp. 89–90.ISBN978-0-8078-3098-7.OCLC86090559.
^"About Simon Wiesenthal".Simon Wiesenthal Center. 2013. Section 11.Archived from the original on 26 March 2022. Retrieved17 November 2013.
^Hartmann, Ralph (2010)."Der Alibiprozeß".Den Aufsatz kommentieren (in German). Ossietzky 9/2010. Archived fromthe original on 2 December 2013. Retrieved19 November 2013.
^Rückerl, Adalbert (1972).NS-Prozesse. Karlsruhe, Germany: Verlag C F Muller. p. 132.ISBN978-3788020156.Archived from the original on 4 March 2022. Retrieved8 September 2013.Adalbert Rückerl, head of the Central Bureau for the Prosecution of National Socialist Crimes observed that because of the 1968 Dreher's amendment (§ 50 StGB), 90% of all Nazi war criminals in Germany enjoyed total immunity from prosecution.
^Fuchs, Christian (2018). "Racism, Nationalism and Right-Wing Extremism Online: The Austrian Presidential Election 2016 on Facebook". In Morelock, Jeremiah (ed.).Critical Theory and Authoritarian Populism. University of Westminster Press. p. 165.ISBN978-1-912656-04-2.
^Laqueur, Walter,Fascism: Past, Present, Future, pp. 80, 116, 117
^Laqueur, Walter,Fascism: Past, Present, Future, pp. 117–18
^* Yeomans, Rory, "Of "Yugoslav Barbarians" and Croatian Gentlemen Scholars: Nationalist Ideology and Racial Anthropology in Interwar Yugoslavia", in Turda, Marius and Paul Weindling, eds.,"Blood And Homeland": Eugenics And Racial Nationalism in Central And Southeast Europe, 1900–1940 Central European University Press, 2006)
^værd, Af Torsten Ruus Husk den gode tone! På Ekstra Bladet lægger vi stor vægt på at have en tæt dialog med jer læsere Jeres input er guld; turde, og mange historier ville ikke kunne lade sig gøre uden jeres tip Men selv om vi også har tradition for at; Tier, Når Andre; mene, værner vi om en sober og konstruktiv tone Du må; Vil, Hvad Du; Henvendelser, Men Vi Accepterer Ikke; Chikanerende, Der Er; politianmeldt, hadefulde eller krænkende overfor vores medarbejdere Sådanne henvendelser vil blive blokeret og registreret af Ekstra Bladet og evt (11 December 2021)."Nazi-veteran begraver DNSB: - Vi har ingen fører mere".ekstrabladet.dk (in Danish). Retrieved31 May 2024.
^"Right-Wing Terrorism and Militancy in the Nordic Countries: A Comparative Case Study"(PDF).University of Oslo Center for Research on Extremism.Archived(PDF) from the original on 26 March 2021. Retrieved5 November 2020.One particularly severe episode happened in 1997, when a group of about 50 skinheads attacked Somali youths playing football in the Helsinki suburb Kontula. The violence did not stop before the police started shooting warning shots, and 22 skinheads were sentenced for the attack. Pekonen et al. also mention a number of other violent events from the 1990s, including ten particularly severe events from 1995 (not included in the RTV dataset because sufficient event details are lacking): a racist murder, an immigrant stabbed by a skinhead, four attacks on immigrants using explosives, and another four immigrants beaten severely.
^"On Europe's Streets:Annual Marches Glorifying Nazism"(PDF).B'nai B'rith,Amadeu Antonio Foundation,Federal Foreign Office. 25 March 2023.Thethe main organizers and guests of the event have been drawn from either non-party-affiliated far-right-activists or members of the right-wing populist Finns Party (Perussuomalaiset), its youth organization Finns Party Youth (Perussuomalaiset Nuoret)...the 612-march is a torchlight procession from central Helsinki to the Hietaniemi war cemetery, where members visit the tomb of World War II-era President Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim and the monument to the Finnish SS-Battalion. There are speeches at both the assembly point and at the cemetery, eulogizing the Battle for Helsinki, depicted by speakers as the occasion "when Germans and Finns marched side by side and liberated the city from the communists."
^abVirchow, Fabian (2004). "The groupuscularization of neo-Nazism in Germany: The case of the Aktionsbüro Norddeutschland".Patterns of Prejudice.38 (1):56–70.doi:10.1080/0031322032000185587.S2CID143578391.
^Brothers, Eric (2000). "Issues Surrounding the Development of the Neo-Nazi Scene in East Berlin".European Judaism.33 (2):45–50.doi:10.3167/ej.2000.330206.
^Takis, Michas."Unholy Alliance".Texas A&M University Press: Eastern European Studies (College Station, Tex.). p. 22.Archived from the original on 24 September 2014. Retrieved12 April 2007.
^Randolph L. Braham, "Hungary: The Assault on the Historical Memory of the Holocaust" inThe Holocaust in Hungary: Seventy Years Later (eds. Randolph L. Braham & András Kovács: Central European University Press, 2016).
^Krisztián Ungváry, "'One Camp, One Banner': How Fidesz Views History" inTwenty-Five Sides of a Post-Communist Mafia State (ed. Balint Magyar & Julia Vasarhelyi: Central European University Press, 2017).
^Shizhensky, Roman (2020)."Современное "родноверие": реперные точки" (in Russian). Доклад на круглом столе: «Славянское язычество XXI века: проблемы генезиса и развития», held on February 15, 2020 at the Nizhny Novgorod State Pedagogical University named after Kozma Minin.
^abcUmland, Andreas; Anton Shekhovtsov (September–October 2013). "Ultraright Party Politics in Post-Soviet Ukraine and the Puzzle of the Electoral Marginalism of Ukrainian Ultranationalists in 1994–2009".Russian Politics and Law.51 (5): 41.doi:10.2753/rup1061-1940510502.S2CID144502924.
^Kuzio, Taras (2015).Ukraine: Democratization, Corruption, and the New Russian Imperialism. ABC-CLIO. pp. 110–111.the Russian Orthodox Army, one of a number of separatist units fighting for the "Orthodox faith," revival of the Tsarist Empire, and the Russkii Mir. Igor Girkin (Strelkov [Shooter]), who led the Russian capture of Slovyansk in April 2014, was an example of the Russian nationalists who have sympathies to pro-Tsarist and extremist Orthodox groups in Russia. ... the Russian Imperial Movement ... has recruited thousands of volunteers to fight with the separatists. ... such as the Russian Party of National Unity who use a modified swastika as their party symbol and Dugin's Eurasianist movement. The paramilitaries of both of these ... are fighting alongside separatists.
^Townsend, Mark (20 March 2022)."Russian mercenaries in Ukraine linked to far-right extremists".The Guardian.Archived from the original on 27 March 2022. Retrieved26 April 2022.Russian mercenaries fighting in Ukraine, including the Kremlin-backed Wagner Group, have been linked to far-right extremism ... Much of the extremist content, posted on Telegram and the Russian social media platform VKontakte (VK), relates to a far-right unit within the Wagner Group called Rusich ... One post on the messaging app Telegram, dated 15 March, shows the flag of the Russian Imperial Movement (RIM), a white-supremacist paramilitary ... Another recent VK posting lists Rusich as part of a coalition of separatist groups and militias including the extreme far-right group, Russian National Unity.
^Šmíd, Tomáš & Šmídová, Alexandra. (2021).Anti-government Non-state Armed Actors in the Conflict in Eastern Ukraine.Czech Journal of International Relations, Volume 56, Issue 2. pp.48–49. Quote: "Another group of Russian citizens who became involved in the armed conflict in Eastern Ukraine were members of the so-called right-wing units of the Russian Spring."
^"Order of Nine Angles: What is this obscure Nazi Satanist group?".BBC News. 29 June 2020.The Sonnenkrieg Division, with its glorification of sexual violence, highlights another disturbing theme relating to the ONA – sexual offending as a way of undermining social norms....The authorities are concerned by the number of paedophiles associated with the ONA, taking the group into a different area of law enforcement activity.
^Croland, Michael (2016).Oy Oy Oy Gevalt! Jews and Punk: Jews and Punk. ABC-CLIO. p. 57.
^Arıkan, E. Burak (July 2002). "Turkish ultra-nationalists under review: a study of the Nationalist Action Party".Nations and Nationalism.8 (3):357–75.doi:10.1111/1469-8219.00055.
^"Turkish Nazi Party".turknazipartisi.com. Archived from the original on 18 February 2014. Retrieved7 July 2014.
^Berlet, Chip; Vysotsky, Stanislav (2006). "Overview of U.S. White Supremacist Groups".Journal of Political and Military Sociology.34 (1):11–48.
^abcBurstow, Bonnie (2003). "Surviving and thriving by becoming more 'groupuscular': the case of the Heritage Front".Patterns of Prejudice.37 (4):415–28.doi:10.1080/0031322032000144492.S2CID143856285.
^abcdeEtchepare, Jaime Antonio; Stewart; Hamish I., "Nazism in Chile: A Particular Type of Fascism in South America".Journal of Contemporary History (1995).
^"1 in 10 say it's acceptable to hold neo-Nazi views (POLL)".ABC News/Washington Post. 21 August 2017. Archived fromthe original on 27 September 2024.9 percent in a new ABC News/Washington Post poll call it acceptable to hold neo-Nazi or white supremacist views, equivalent to about 22 million Americans.
^"National Socialist Party poster".teara.govt.nz. New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu Taonga.Archived from the original on 29 January 2021. Retrieved28 January 2017.
Deceived, Damned & Defiant – The Revolutionary Writings of David Lane byDavid Lane, foreword by Ron McVan, preface byKatja Lane (Fourteen Word Press, 1999,ISBN0-9678123-2-1)
Resistance Magazine published by National Vanguard Books
The New Germany and the Old Nazis byTete Harens Tetens (Random House, 1961)
Swastika and the Eagle: Neo-Nazism in America Today by Clifford L Linedecker (A & W Pub, 1982,ISBN0-89479-100-1)
The Silent Brotherhood: Inside America's Racist Underground byKevin Flynn and Gary Gerhardt (Signet Book; Reprint edition, 1995,ISBN0-451-16786-4)
"White Power, White Pride!": The White Separatist Movement in the United States by Betty A. Dobratz with Stephanie L. Shanks-Meile (hardcover, Twayne Publishers, 1997,ISBN0-8057-3865-7); a.k.a.The White Separatist Movement in the United States: White Power White Pride (paperback, Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, 2000,ISBN0-8018-6537-9)
A Hundred Little Hitlers: The Death of a Black Man, the Trial of a White Racist, and the Rise of the Neo-Nazi Movement in America by Elinor Langer (Metropolitan Books, 2003,ISBN0-8050-5098-1)
The Racist Mind: Portraits of American Neo-Nazis and Klansmen by Raphael S. Ezekiel (Penguin (Non-Classics); Reprint edition, 1996,ISBN0-14-023449-7)
The Far Right in Western and Eastern Europe by Luciano Cheles, Ronnie Ferguson, and Michalina Vaughan (Longman Publishing Group; 2nd edition, 1995,ISBN0-582-23881-1)
Shadows Over Europe: The Development and Impact of the Extreme Right in Western Europe edited by Martin Schain, Aristide Zolberg, and Patrick Hossay (Palgrave Macmillan; 1st edition, 2002,ISBN0-312-29593-6)
The Fame of a Dead Man's Deeds: An Up-Close Portrait of White Nationalist William Pierce byRobert S. Griffin (Authorhouse, 2001,ISBN0-7596-0933-0)
Nation and Race: The Developing Euro-American Racist Subculture by Jeffrey Kaplan, Tore Bjorgo (Northeastern University Press, 1998,ISBN1-55553-331-0)
Gods of the Blood: The Pagan Revival and White Separatism by Mattias Gardell (Duke University Press, 2003,ISBN0-8223-3071-7)
The Nazi conception of law (Oxford pamphlets on world affairs) by J. Walter Jones, Clarendon (1939)
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