Horrifying rise of the Fourth Reich: Neo-Nazi extremists promise to destroy EU
NEO-NAZI terror is spreading through Europe as extremist right-wing groups promise to spell the end of the EU
Racist and fascist organisations are spreading from Germany to Greece
as they ride the wave of backlash against the institutions of Europe.
Protestors
armed with flags and banners and wearing T-shirts with slogans such as
“support your race” have become common in the continent’s cities.
Neo-Nazi groups claim their membership is rising and reports of far-right violence are rising.
Fury
at the surging migrant crisis, economic hardship, terrorism and
disillusionment with the ailing EU is fuelling the rise of a new wave of
Nazism.
Germany is fostering growing numbers of Neo–Nazis as disillusioned
people are drawn to organisations such as the National Democratic Party
(NPD) and Die Rechte.
Supreme court officials tried to ban NPD –
with the court’s judgement defining the group as having an “affinity
with national socialism”.
This weekend Die Rechte marched through
the city centre of Leipzig, Germany – and the group has been growing in
number since their found in 2011.
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EXTREME RIGHT: Neo-Nazi violence has been on the rise since the migrant crisis hit Europe
Once in the Shadows, Europe’s Neo-Fascists Are Re-emerging
CAKAJOVCE,
Slovakia — Head bowed in reverence, Robert Svec gently placed a bouquet
of blood-red flowers at the foot of the only known statue of Jozef
Tiso, Slovakia’s wartime fascist leader, in a weedy monument park known as the Pantheon of Slovak Historical Figures.
For
years, Mr. Svec’s neo-fascist cultural organization, the Slovak Revival
Movement, was a tiny fringe group. But now his crowds are growing, as
200 people recently gathered with him to celebrate the country’s fascist
past and call fascist-era greetings — “Na Straz!” or “On the guard!”
Mr. Svec is so emboldened that he is transforming his movement into a
political party, with plans to run for Parliament.
“You
are ours, and we will forever be yours,” Mr. Svec said at the foot of
the statue, having declared this as the Year of Jozef Tiso, dedicated to
rehabilitating the image of the former priest and Nazi collaborator,
who was hanged as a war criminal in 1947.
Once
in the shadows, Europe’s neo-fascists are stepping back out, more than
three-quarters of a century after Nazi boots stormed through Central
Europe, and two decades since a neo-Nazi resurgence of skinheads and white supremacists unsettled the transition to democracy. In Slovakia,
neo-fascists are winning regional offices and taking seats in the
multiparty Parliament they hope to replace with strongman rule.
They
are still on the edges of European politics, yet offer another reminder
of how turbulent politics have become. Just as the rise of far-right
parties is forcing many mainstream politicians to pivot rightward, so,
too, has the populist mood energized the most extremist right-wing
groups, those flirting with or even embracing fascist policies that
trace back to World War II.
“Before,
pro-fascist sentiments were kept hidden,” said Gabriel Sipos, director
of Transparency International Slovakia. “Parents would tell their
children, ‘You cannot say this at school.’ Now, you can say things in
the public space that you couldn’t say before.”
Although nationalist parties have thrived across Europe in recent years, only a few — Golden Dawn in Greece and the National Democratic Party in Germany,
to name two — embrace neo-fascist views. Some, like Jobbik in Hungary,
are extremist in their right-wing views but stop short of outright
fascism.
Instead,
the broader impact of these groups has been measured in how they have
pushed mainstream parties in a more firmly nationalist direction — especially on immigration — to slow the defection of supporters.
“Now,
extremists and fascists are part of the system,” said Grigorij
Meseznikov, president of the Institute for Public Affairs, a liberal
research group.
In
Slovakia, neo-fascism has established something of a beachhead. Mr.
Svec is joining a political field where a party with an established
neo-fascist leader, Marian Kotleba, demonstrated surprising strength in
last year’s parliamentary elections, winning 14 seats in the 150-member chamber.
Pre-election
polls showed his party getting less than 3 percent of the vote, but his
result — 8 percent — was built on strong support from young people and
other first-time voters. More recent polls show his support nearing 13
percent. He had already stunned Slovakia in 2013 by winning the
governorship of Banska Bystrica, one of Slovakia’s eight regions.
Mr.
Kotleba, 39, who recently renamed his party Kotleba — People’s Party
Our Slovakia, used to appear in uniforms reminiscent of those worn
during the wartime Slovak State. Once he and his party got into
Parliament, the uniforms disappeared and he shifted his attacks from
Jews to immigrants and the country’s Roma minority.
“They
used to turn up at gay pride parades, show their muscle, turn up the
heat,” said Michal Havran, a television talk-show host and political
commentator. “Now, they don’t go; they are worried about their image.”
But
the underlying message of groups like Mr. Kotleba’s and Mr. Svec’s has
not shifted — Slovakia was better off under a fascist government.
“Something
very dark and very troubling from the past is coming back,” Mr. Havran
said. “They feel they are fighting for something very pure, something
very old and sacred. A few years ago, they were ashamed to talk about
it. Now, they are proud.”
In
Banska Bystrica, Mr. Kotleba’s powers as governor include overseeing
schools, cultural institutions and some infrastructure projects.
“If
you are a white, heterosexual man, you probably don’t notice any
difference living in a place where Kotleba is governor,” said Rado
Sloboda, 26, one of a group of Banska Bystrica activists opposing Mr.
Kotleba under the banner “Not in Our Town.” “If you are a minority, like
a Roma, you feel it more keenly. There is a feeling that they are even
less welcome in the center city.”
The
muscular receptionist outside Mr. Kotleba’s office said this month that
no entry was possible without an appointment, although the governor
almost never grants interviews. When told that repeated calls had not
been returned, he asked the name of the newspaper. “Oh,” he said. “That
explains it.”
Mr.
Kotleba’s party has been especially effective on social media, with
more than 140 interconnected Facebook pages. When a local retiree, Jan
Bencik, 68, began blogging to expose the country’s neo-fascists, his
name appeared on a list of “opponents of the state.”
“They
called me a Jew, said that I should die, die, die,” Mr. Bencik said.
“They said that people like me would be dealt with in the future.”
One
of the ironies of Mr. Kotleba’s coming to power in Banska Bystrica is
that it was the center of the anti-fascist Slovak National Uprising
during the war and is home to the national museum commemorating that
event.
Stanislav
Micev, the museum director, characterized Mr. Kotleba’s message as
“fascism with elements of Nazism,” mixing Mussolini’s strongman rule
with Hitler’s demonization of minorities.
“They
are against Americans, Hungarians, Jews, black people and yellow
people,” Mr. Micev said. “His current positions are right on the edge of
what is legal.”
As
a newcomer on the neo-fascist political scene, Mr. Svec regards Mr.
Kotleba as a potential rival for the same angry vote. At the Jozef Tiso
memorial ceremony, the top officials in Mr. Svec’s movement wore
matching dark suits with white shirts and bright red ties. A table in
the back of the room did a brisk business selling Slovak Revival
Movement patches, stickers, key rings, calendars, cookies and bottles of
wine (white only) labeled “Year of Jozef Tiso.”
“The
people in power want Slovaks to be ashamed of their history,” said
Martin Lacko, a historian and supporter of Mr. Svec. “They want them to
keep apologizing. That’s why they keep talking about deportations of
Jews during the war and other negative things.”
A
group of gray-haired singers in folk costumes, accompanied by a
clarinet and an accordion, performed a series of patriotic favorites.
“Slovak moms, you have beautiful sons,” they sang.
A
pair of university students with floppy hair and denim sat in the back
corner, whispering during the speeches and snatching pastries from a
nearby table during breaks. Both said they considered themselves devout
and conservative, and did not believe Mr. Svec and Mr. Kotleba were
extremist in any way. They also pointed to the election of President
Trump as a good thing.
“I have to say, the U.S. election results made me extremely happy,” said Martin Bornik, 23.
In an interview after the ceremony, Mr. Svec rejected the notion that his group is neo-Nazi.
“When
Americans bring their flags to parks or to public events, nobody says
anything,” Mr. Svec said. “When we do it, they call us neo-Nazis. You
know, labeling someone is the easiest thing to do.”
In German Election, Neo-Nazi Fringe Rises—And Here's Why
A neo-Nazi
party now controls one-eighth of the German Parliament, and it used a
proven formula to get there: populism and anti-immigration, anti-Muslim,
anti-bipartisanship sentiments.
The Alternative for Germany,
which proposed banning mosques and veils, won 12.6 percent of voter
support. It's the first time a far-right extremist party has won so many
seats since the Nazi era. The AfD is now the third-largest party in the
country, and it follows a trend of right-wing, anti-immigration
politics across Europe.
Germany is not alone: In Hungary, current
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán came from the far-right, anti-immigrant
Fidesz party, and the country's third-largest party, far-right Jobbik,
advocates anti-Semitism. In France, Marine Le Pen’s populist,
anti-immigrant party lost to Emmanuel Macron, but with a whopping 34
percent of voter support. In December 2016, Austria only narrowly
rejected the platform of Norbert Hofer, leader of the Nazi-spawned
Freedom Party set up in 1950.
The United States, too, elected a president who campaigned on anti-immigrant rhetoric.
Fringe
parties often start on the margins, and get dismissed by larger
parties. But what does it take for an extremist, fringe party to grow
into a force to be reckoned with? How, in short, did this happen? Here
are the keys:
Bi-Partisanship Divides, Rather Than Unites
Nearly half of the AfD's 2.2 million supporters this election split off from Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union, according to Infratest Dimap,
a German polling and research center. Merkel was criticized in her
third term and her final debate with opponent Martin Schulz for agreeing
with too many progressive stances and departing from her party's
conservative roots.
Something that’s difficult to even fathom in
American politics has become, in German politics, a powerful dividing
force: too much bipartisanship.
“If you vote Democrat and I vote
Republican, and yet we end up with a Demo-Republican government, then at
a certain point you and I are both going to get frustrated,” said Erik
Jones, director of European Studies at the Johns Hopkins School of
Advanced International Studies. “The more often we vote with what we
think are alternatives, but end up getting the same damn thing, the more
disenchanted we are going to be.”
Fringe groups do not always
live on the far right, and they do not always wield a message of hate.
In the U.S., we saw a jolt to both the center-left and the center-right
in the 2016 presidential election when Bernie Sanders won over a group
of young voters who were so disillusioned by the Democratic National
Committee that they were not only open to, but profoundly inspired by,
radical policies like socialist healthcare and free education. Sanders
even captured the support of people who later voted for Donald Trump.
Trump,
similarly, ran under the umbrella of the Republican Party, but
consistently departs from its core tenets, even siding with Democrats in
Congress when his frustration with Republican attempts at healthcare
legislation reached a peak. In the words of conservative commentator
S.E. Cupp, Trump “wears the Republican party like a rented tuxedo. And
at the end of this adventure, it's going to be crumpled in the corner
with cigarette-butt stains."
And Trump supporters, data show,
don't care about his alignment with Republican ideals. A study published
by Michael Barber and Jeremy Pope at Brigham Young University showed
“group loyalty” motivates Republican voters more than ideologies and
platforms.
“Trump voters are essentially willing to follow
President Trump wherever he goes in the political landscape,” says Wade
Jacoby, a professor of political science at Brigham Young University.
Germany Has Red States, Too
You've heard about J.D. Vance's Hillbilly Elegy enough
to last a lifetime. But the voice of the common man, the cries of
populism, are not dying out. In fact, populism unites far-right
movements more than perhaps any other factor.
Even in a strong
economy like Germany’s, even with an education system designed to value
trades and manual labor, people with low incomes and in rural areas
struggle to experience the same prosperity as their urban, high-income
counterparts. They feel a sting not reflected in their country’s high
GDP and low unemployment numbers. The top 10 percent of Germans earn a
third of the country’s income, and they own 60 percent of all assets,
according to the German Institute for Economic Research. Poverty is on the rise, hitting a record high (since reunification) of 15.7 percent in 2015. Germany's lowest earners haven't received raises in 15 years.
“AfD
is stronger in parts that have been economically not doing so well,
especially in rural parts where people feel forgotten, where public
transport is not coming that often,” says Carsten Koschmieder, political
scientist at the Free University of Berlin.
According to Jacoby,
populism is rooted in an anti-elitism that speaks to the common man when
he feels ignored. Populism allows the AfD "to combine an economic
criticism of the government, basically that they’re looking out for
elites, with a democratic criticism, that they’re not looking out for
the people.”
“The idea of democracy is that the people know what to do,” he says.
Islam And Immigrants Are Scapegoats
Europe is the most divided region in the world when it comes to accepting immigrants, according to a Gallup report, with acceptance at its lowest in Hungary and Eastern Europe and its highest in Sweden.
And
indeed, the AfD modeled its platform upon this disconnect between
public sentiment and public policy. Merkel’s most contentious stance was
her acceptance of 900,000 refugees in 2015, and it was the focus
of furious protesters at her typically low-key campaign events. This
summer, AfD supporters twice in one week threw tomatoes at the
chancellor, and several more times showed up with whistles that made it
hard to hear her speech and carried banners that read, “Merkel must go!”
In
Saxony, the site of some of those protests and an eastern state where
the AfD is at its strongest, the party won 27 percent of the vote and
beat out all other parties. Only 0.1 percent of Saxony is Muslim (the
average for Germany is 5 percent), and in 2014, almost half of all
racist attacks in Germany occurred in the eastern region, The Economist reported.
“In
the East part of Germany," Koschmieder says, "there were no foreigners
until now...When you don’t meet foreign people, it’s far easier to have
prejudice against them.”
Enrico Leusch is a 19-year-old in
Rhineland-Palatine who founded Facebook's largest AfD-supporter
group,“AfD Sympathisanten,” which has over 24,000 members. He wrote in
an email that he voted AfD, in his first election, because he thinks
it’s the “only party in Germany which preserves the interests of the
German people.”
“The sharia is against our liberalism, norms and
values," he wrote. "Don’t understand me wrong. I don’t have anything
[against] Muslims, but I don’t see that Muslims living in Germany do
anything against fundamental Islam.
Germany under threat of growing neo-Nazi presence
Germany has been under threat of rising neo-Nazis presence in the German society.
The number of fugitive neo-Nazis at large and the rise of far-right extremism in Germany reflects a growing neo-Nazi presence in the country.
Over 400 people wanted for committing far-right crimes in Germany are
still free, according to figures released by the German Interior
Ministry. Around 600 arrest warrants for 462 neo-Nazis have not been
administered, German newspaper Deutsche Welle reported.
Out of 462 neo-Nazis, 104 are wanted for violent crimes and 106 are
wanted for politically motivated crimes, according to German government
data.
The Left party's spokeswoman on domestic policy, Ulla Jelpke,
expresses her concern over "an established Nazi underground" within
German society. "I find the high number of fugitive neo-Nazis who have
evaded arrest for a long period of time extremely worrying," Jelpke
said.
The German government earlier announced steps to choke off state
campaign financing for the far-right National Democratic Party (NPD)
after a failed court bid to outlaw the xenophobic fringe group. The
initiative aims to deprive the NDP of taxpayers' money, to which German
political parties are generally entitled, before September elections.
Handing government funds to the NPD amounted to "a direct state
subsidy for far-right hate speech," Justice Minister Heiko Maas said.
Germany's highest court had in January rejected a bid by the
parliament's upper house to ban the NPD, ruling that although it held a
similar ideology to the Nazis, it was too small to endanger German
democracy.
The NPD, with some 6,000 members, was founded in 1964 as a successor
to the neo-fascist German Reich Party, rails against foreigners and
campaigns with the slogan: "Germany for the Germans".
Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said his ministry had prepared
changes to the constitution and to other laws that would have to be
adopted by parliament with two-thirds majorities in both chambers.
He said the idea that a party hostile to the democratic order receives official funding "is a situation that is hard to take."
German political parties receive state campaign finance funds if they
have won at least 0.5 percent of the popular vote in the latest general
or European elections, or 1 percent in a vote in one of Germany's 16
states.
The NPD garnered just above 1 percent in Germany's last elections in
2013, insufficient for it to win representation in parliament. It has
also lost ground to the right-wing populist and anti-immigration
Alternative for Germany (AfD), which currently polls at around 11
percent.
Powerful pics show rise of far-right fanatics and Hitler-loving neo-Nazis across Europe over the past decade
Award-winning snapper Paolo Marchetti spent time with skinhead groups from across the continent
AN intrepid photographer offers a terrifying glimpse inside some of Europe’s energised fascist hate groups.
Italian snapper Paolo Marchetti has spent much of the last decade documenting the rise of skinhead groups across the continent.
PAOLO MARCHETTI
PAOLO MARCHETTI
His incredible pictures show fascists from Britain, Germany, Spain
and Italy gathering together in Perugia to celebrate their twisted and
hateful ideology.
One of the snaps shows a baby lying in a crib in a room laden with fascist propaganda.
PAOLO MARCHETTI
Another disturbing image shows a man displaying a tattoo on his arm
which reads ‘To Each His Own’ which was a slogan used at Nazi
concentration camps during the Holocaust.
Others pictures show hundreds of skinheads gathering for a Nazi rock concert in Rome.
PAOLO MARCHETTI
PAOLO MARCHETTI
PAOLO MARCHETTI
PAOLO MARCHETTI
PAOLO MARCHETTI
“In the era of globalisation, tens of thousands of people all over
Europe are screaming to the world, ‘I exist—I exist and I am not a
product of your company.
“’I exist because I live my identity, unique and essential and I belong to a people, a religion, a race’.”
PAOLO MARCHETTI
PAOLO MARCHETTI
PAOLO MARCHETTI
PAOLO MARCHETTI
Rise of the nationalists: a guide to Europe’s far-right parties
Ten political parties leading the far-right surge on the continent.
We are seeing a rise of far-right parties in mainstream European
politics. Playing on scepticism about the European Union following the
eurozone’s travails, and using racist rhetoric to exploit a migration
crisis that has become difficult to contain, these parties are gaining
voters in countries across the continent. Here is a guide to the top ten
insurgent far-right groups – some new, some established – achieving the
most electoral success in Europe:
All photos: Getty
Alternative für Deutschland
Germany’s AfD has gained representation in ten of the 16 German state parliaments since September 2016. Last year, anti-Islam policies replaced its Eurosceptic focus, the slogan “Islam is not a part of Germany” emerging from the party’s spring conference. Support has slipped in recent months: AfD is polling at 8 per cent and its leaders, Frauke Petry and Jörg Meuthen, are under pressure after a senior AfD politician made a speech urging Germany to stop atoning for Nazi crimes.All photos: Getty
Jobbik
The nationalist “Movement for a Better Hungary” held its position as the country’s third-largest party in the 2014 parliamentary elections and won a crucial by-election against the right-wing ruling party, Fidesz, a year later. Jobbik’s leader, Gábor Vona, 38, is trying to improve its image by repackaging it as a “people’s party”. It is still hindered by a reputation for anti-Semitism, which rests on its preoccupation with Hungarian ethnicity and hostility towards Israel.Front National
The French party is enjoying a renaissance after a successful move to “detoxify” the brand under Marine Le Pen, the daughter of its first leader, Jean-Marie Le Pen. Polling at 26 per cent, Marine is expected to win the first round of voting for the presidential election on 23 April. Anti-immigration rhetoric brought the FN huge gains in the 2015 local elections – it came first in six of France’s 13 regions, beating the two main parties.
Golden Dawn
These Greek neo-fascists use Nazi-style symbolism and have expressed admiration for Hitler’s regime. Their leader, Nikolaos Michaloliakos – who in 2012 called the gas chambers “a lie” – rejects the label “neo-Nazi”, preferring “Greek nationalist”. Exploiting the fallout of austerity and the migration crisis, Golden Dawn came third in Greece’s September 2015 election, winning 7 per cent of the vote. At that time, its spokesman Ilias Kasidiaris, who boasts a swastika tattoo, declared: “Golden Dawn is a movement of power; it is not a protest movement any more.”Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs
Licking its wounds after narrowly losing Austria’s rerun presidential election to the Greens’ Alexander van der Bellen in December, the FPÖ is trying to secure its clout. Its leader, Heinz-Christian Strache, travelled to Trump Tower to congratulate the new US president in January and had a meeting with Donald Trump’s then national security adviser, Mike Flynn. Accused of Nazi sympathies, the FPÖ is vocally anti-Islam. It holds 38 of the 183 seats on Austria’s National Council.
The Finns
The nationalist True Finns emerged from near-obscurity to become the third-largest party in Finland in 2011. “Revolution!” the press declared, as they won 39 of the 200 seats in parliament, adding 34 to their 2007 tally. But failing to work in coalition with governing parties condemned them to obscurity. Now known as The Finns, they returned strongly, becoming the second-largest party in parliament in 2015 and joining the current coalition. Led by Timo Soini, The Finns are Eurosceptic and anti-globalist.
Sweden Democrats
Having emerged from the white suprematist movement, the Sweden Democrats are the third-largest party in the Swedish Riksdag, with 49 seats and 12.9 per cent of the national vote. They work alone as an opposition party, because mainstream political groups refuse to co-operate with them. Their quiet and bespectacled leader, Jimmie Åkesson, 37, uses anti-immigrant rhetoric and has expressed admiration for Donald Trump. His party is polling second to the governing Social Democrats, at 21.5 per cent – on a par with the centre-right Moderate Party.
Danish People’s Party
The nativist Danish People’s Party became the second-largest party in Denmark in the 2015 general election, winning 21 per cent of the vote, up from 12 per cent in 2011. Rather than stay in opposition, it provides parliamentary support to the plurality of leading centre-right parties. Slick and soft-spoken, the DPP’s leader, Kristian Thulesen Dahl, has called for cuts to immigration from Muslim countries and withdrawal from the EU’s Schengen free-movement area. Its economic policies lean more to the left: it supports a strong welfare state.
Partij voor de Vrijheid
The Dutch nationalist, anti-Islam PVV experienced a rapid rise to power in 2006 when, as a relatively new movement, it gained a greater share of seats in the House of Representatives than other, more established parties. In 2012 it came third; at present, it has 12 MPs. Its leader and sole member is Geert Wilders, whose appetite for controversy and unconventional one-man route to popularity (see feature) prompted the Politico website to label him “the man who invented Trumpism”. Opinion polls put the PVV in the lead for the 15 March general election, narrowly in front of Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie.
Lega Nord
Italy’s neo-fascists have enjoyed a bounce after slumping to a historic low of 4 per cent in the 2013 election for the lower house. But the party that used be a partner in Silvio Berlusconi’s coalition, winning 10.2 per cent of the vote in the 2009 European parliamentary elections, has been given new life by Matteo Salvini, 43, who became its leader in 2013. It has also proved adept at exploiting the migrant crisis, which has hit Italy hard, and it has been polling fourth among Italian parties (about 13 per cent) for much of this year.
Neo-Nazi threats force Jewish group in Sweden to close
A Jewish community association in
northern Sweden has decided to close following a series of far-right
threats, seven years since it opened.
Local members said the authorities had been unable to provide enough security.
Community spokeswoman Carinne Sjoberg said some people no longer dared to come to the centre.
Neo-Nazi group Nordfront were behind the hate campaign, she said, initially targeting her but then other members of the community too. The last straw came at the weekend when the windows of a member's car were broken.
"Our kids go to ordinary school, so members started to feel they didn't want to bring the children," she told the BBC.
"My mother and father are (Holocaust) survivors, so this is not OK. Enough is enough. It was like stepping into their shoes in the 1930s."
Umea also hit the headlines two years ago when a march was held to mark the anniversary of Kristallnacht, the outbreak of mass violence against Jews in Nazi Germany in 1938. The town's Jewish community was not invited.
Ms Sjoberg said that despite the closure of the centre, the community would fight to have a meeting place in the future that was more central in Umea and easier to protect.
Community leaders say the situation for Jews in some Swedish towns is difficult.
"We've had problems with neo-Nazis in Gothenburg and Umea, but in other cities like Stockholm we feel safer," said Isak Reichel, secretary general of Sweden's central council of Jewish communities.
For Jews in the southern city of Malmo the threat was mostly from Islamist groups
Neo-Nazis on the rise in Sweden
Far-right groups in Sweden and other Scandinavian countries are gaining ground. There are growing calls from their ranks for a Nordic revolution. And they are not afraid to use violence to support these racist views.
