Transatlantic Dimension of Right Wing Extremism

The Transatlantic Dimension of Right-Wing Extremism

Thomas Grumke

Ultranationalism--defined as "the construction of [a sense] national belong- ing [in which] specific ethnic, cultural, or religious criteria of exclusion are reinforced, condensed to collective ideas of homogeneity and linked with au- thoritarian political models ''2 (Minkenberg, 2001)--is undoubtedly one of the ideological characteristics of right-wing extremism? This could lead to the conclusion, that right-wing extremists for this reason do not tend to cooperate on a long-term basis with right-wing extremists from other countries. That is absolutely incorrect, especially in the 21st century. On the contrary, more extensive international and transnational networking is taking place on the extreme right, which is more and more interlinked organizationally and ideologically (see Kaplan/Weinberg, 1998; Grumke, 2001a).

"Solidarity is a weapon" was the headline of a report on the "4th European Youth Congress" by Junge Nationaldemokraten, 4 where all "present delega- tions and guests from near and far [stressed] their will, to resist determinedly the plutocratic structures of the egalitarian 'One World' proponents. ''5 This represents how a large part of the extreme right understands international cooperation today; coming in the form of financial aid, logistics, manpower, or--not to be underestimated--motivation.

Intensive contacts have been maintained for years on pertinent events such as the Flemish "Ijzerbedevaart" in Diksmuide, Belgium (August), the "Ulrichsberg" commemoration near Klagenfurt, Austria (October) or the commemoration of the death of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco in Madrid (No- vember). The "Ijzer-pilgrimage" has been undertaken yearly since 1927 on the last weekend in August in remembrance of the Flemish soldiers who fell in the First World War. At this event, right-wing extremists from all over Europe and the United States are meeting.

Structure follows ideology. In other words, it cannot be assumed that right- wing extremists from different countries organize meetings together, and then

Thomas Grumke, Ph.D., is a member of the Faculty of Political Science at Europa-Universit~it Viadrina in Frankfurt (Oder). He has published books and numerous articles about right-wing extremism in the United States and Europe. Until the end of 2002 Thomas Grumke had been a lecturer at the Freie University in the John F. Kennedy-Institute in Berlin.

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start thinking about common goals and ideas. On the contrary, they cooperate only because of ideological consensus and/or common political goals. For that reason, this article will examine first those ideological elements and political goals, on which basis a large part of the contemporary internationally active extreme right networks. Next, the organizational level will be analyzed and some light will be shed on the international network of right-wing extremists with the help of concrete examples.

This article does not claim to trace all international networks and cooperation of the extreme right today. The aim is to show and analyze the increasing trend of internationalization (or transnationalization) of the extreme right. This is to be to achieved, as mentioned, with the help of a number of examples on two levels--the ideological and the organizational--with special attention to the German, British, and American scenes.

The Ideology of International Right-Wing Extremism

Before illustrating the continuously developing international right-wing extremist infrastructure, it is necessary to analyze and to understand the ideological framework around which the process of internationalization takes place.

Michael Kfihnen, who like no other has influenced the German extreme right, coined the phrase: "The system does not have flaws, it is the flaw." He has led the demand for the "fight against foreign infiltration, ''6 the volkish motivated "fight against environmental destruction," and calls for a "cultural revolution against Americanism. ''7 Kfihnen had already formulated in the mid-1980s what are today central elements of internationally active right-wing extremists.

In his greetings for the book Alles Grofle steht im Sturm (All Great Things Are Exposed to Strong Resistance), Dr. William L. Pierce, s the founder and then-leader of the National Alliance, a West Virginia-based white supremacist organization, set forth his ideological parameters for international cooperation:

Nationalists in Germany, in Europe, and also in America, are facing the common enemy of all people, international monopoly capital, that wants to deal the death blow to all historically grown nations in favor of a multicultural "melting pot." Our fight against the attempts for world domination and economic imperialism by multinational corpora- tions will be hard and full of privations--but the goal of Volksgemeinschaft finding back to its roots will be worth to take on this hard fight and all troubles that come with it (Apfel, 1999: 23). '~

This statement, which can be seen as paradigmatic for internationally active right-wing extremists, shows clearly, that the "fight" is no longer just for the defense of one's nation from outside enemies, but for more.

International right-wing activists like Pierce define nationality not by citi- zenship or geography, but by race. Worth defending and protecting is not the nation as such, but rather the seriously endangered "white race" that is under massive attack (by "infiltration" and "race-mixing") in its ancestral lands. The

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attacker, "intemational capital," has no traditions, history, nor scruples. Openly or thinly veiled, this "international capital" is portrayed as Jewish dominated. The result is a hard to digest brew of long-existing anti-Semitic or volkish theories and arguments as well as slogans such as "international (racial) solidarity," "anti-imperialism," and "foreigners out."

The result is a so-called pan-Aryan Weltanschauung, which- -un l ike slavophobic Hitlerian ideology--explicitly includes Eastern Europe and Rus- sia as a part of the "white world." Only with this in mind it can be understood, when World War II is described by neo-Nazis as a "fratricidal disaster" (Pierce in Apfel, 1999:23). David Duke even puts his hopes on Russia preventing what he calls the "relentless and systematic destruction of the European geno- type." He argues "our race faces a world-wide genetic catastrophe. There is only one word that can describe it: genocide. ''1~

Internationally cooperating right-wing extremists are not flag-waving patri- ots, but markedly fundamental enemies of pluralism, democracy, and all its representatives. The idea of ZOG (Zionist Occupied Government) meanwhile dominates the right-wing extremist discourse and is universally accepted as the description of what is seen as puppet governments of global (Jewish-dominated) financial interests in Europe and North America. The principal goal is the preservation (or purity) of the "white race," which consequentially results in the total rejection of any form of immigration, understood as "foreign infiltration" in a racial and cultural sense.

This falls into line with a virulent anti-Americanism, which indeed has to be described more accurately as anti- 'American system" though. The influence of American-based investment and media firms, including "Wall Street," is criticized as imperialistic and degenerative for the race and all nations. A very influential text entitled "Independence Day Live" by former left-wing terrorist and later NPD activist and lawyer Horst Mahler leads further down the path of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. Dealing with the attacks from September 11, 2001, Mahler argues they "herald the end of the American Century, the end of Global Capitalism, and thus the end of the secular Yahweh cult of Mammon- ism." He further states, that the terrorist attacks were nothing other than acts of self-defense by people oppressed by the United States: "This guerilla war is a war of liberation, and as such is a World War, because the enemy of nationalities controls the World." It is soon made clear who this "enemy" is: "The Yahweh cult, setting devout Jews [on the path] to the attainment of world domination through money-lending, has given to the present-day capitalist system its lethal dynamics. ''jr Mahler ultimately arrives at the ludicrous conclusion, that "because they stimulate, through the media, the spirit of resistance of the various nationalities and direct it against the chief enemy, military attacks upon the symbols of mammonistic world domination are eminently effective and thus legitimate. ''~2 Similar statements were made by several other right-wing extremists in Europe and the United States. j3

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Anti-Semitism acts as the vital, internationally compatible ideological glue. The word Jew does not even have to be mentioned openly, right-wing extremists from both sides of the Atlantic know exactly who the "One Worlders" are and what "New World Order" or "East Coast" mean. The following quote by Horst Mahler in 1999 is illustrative: "Especially in Germany, the media and educational institutions are an occupying power masterminded with subtle tech- niques of power by the American East Coast, something the people have not realized fully yet. ''~4

This ideology is transported through internationally recognized and established codes, symbols and writings. This includes among other things the "14 words" of American right-wing terrorist David Lane ("We must secure the existence of our people and a future for White children") or William Pierce's The Turner Diaries (published under the pseudonym Andrew McDonald) from 1978, about which the author gloated after a trip through Europe: "Every nationalist in Europe has heard about The Turner Diaries. ''15 The book has been translated into many languages and is also available now in German under the title Die Turner Tagebiicher, translated by "German enthusiasts. ''16

In this novel, which has rightfully been called a right-wing extremist bible, the "Aryan revolution" starts out with a bomb attack on FBI headquarters and climaxes in the so-called "Day of the Rope," on which tens of thousands are hanged in the streets with signs around their necks saying "I betrayed my race." After a nuclear civil war and a "mopping-up period" (i.e., the kill- ing of all "non-whites"), the entire world at the end of the novel is "Aryan." It is illustrative that violence is portrayed in The Turner Diaries more as the cure than as the malady and deliberately promoted and defended. This all-out positive position on political violence--as the only solution to the prob- lem of what is seen as fundamental oppression of the "Aryan race" by ZOG-- is inherent in a growing number of internationally active right-wing extremists. Violence is seen though as no less than the forced last resource in the fight for survival.

"In this fight, every opponent of today's America is objectively our ally, even if tomorrow he will become our enemy" writes the extremist Swiss veteran Gaston Armand Amaudruz in his preface to the NPD volume Alles Grofle steht im Sturm (Apfel, 1999: 15). The former chairman of the British National Party (BNP), John Tyndall, writes in his preface in the name of his party: "The same enemies, the same political and social problems, the same method of resolution for these problems and definitely also a common future. All this interconnects the nationalist parties of Europa" (Ibid.: 22).

The above mentioned central ideological elements, pan-Aryan racism, anti- Semitism, and (revolutionary) enmity towards the system in a political, cultural, social, and economic sense lead a growing number of top right-wing extremists to the conclusion: "Cooperation across borders will become increasingly important for progress--and perhaps survival--in the future. ''~7

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The Network of International Right-Wing Extremism

It is impossible to portray in this article, even roughly, all international networks of current right-wing extremism. Since the end of Nazi Germany, an international right-wing extremist infrastructure has developed that has become increasingly complex and internationally interconnected, despite nationalistic rhetoric.

While the German right-wing extremist scene is, as in most other countries, notoriously ensnared in infighting and organizationally largely fragmented, something like global players have emerged. For the ideological reasons laid out above, these global players are very keen on cooperation with like-minded Kameraden (comrades) from all over the world. What is more, right-wing extremism has turned into a very profitable business for some well-connected activists, who have been able to reap handsome profits from the sale (often illegal--at least in Germany) of CDs, literature, and other paraphernalia.

The Network under the Swastika

The extreme right, especially the neo-Nazis, can look back on somewhat of a tradition of international networking. As early as 1959 George Lincoln Rockwell, founder and leader of the American Nazi Party (ANP), planned an international Nazi-network with the goal of establishing an "Aryan world order" (cf. Simonelli 1999: 81ff.). The result was the foundation of the World Union of National Socialists (WUNS) that included people like the leader of the British National Socialist Movement, Colin Jordan, and French Nazi-my- thologist Savitri Devi. ~8 WUNS's contact in Germany was Hitler admirer Bruno Ludtke, who developed into Rockwell's closest confidant in Europe.

In July 1962, Rockwell, Jordan, Devi, Ludtke, and other neo-Nazis met for a secret six-day gathering in the remote Cotswold hills in Gloucestershire. Here, the so-called "Cotswold Agreement" was passed as the strategic basis for WUNS, which envisioned a national socialist world revolution and the "final settlement of the Jewish question." Up until 1965, WUNS is said to have had operative arms in 19 countries worldwide (cf. Simonelli 1999: 86ff.). After Rockwell's assassination in 1967, WUNS lost significant momentum and under- took hardly any activities worth mentioning, despite attempts at resuscitation. ~9

One of the most active Rockwell supporters was Dr. William Pierce, who was to become a key figure in international right-wing extremism in the 1990s. Pierce left his assistant professorship of physics in the 1960s to work full-time for the American Nazi Party and Rockwell. At the time, Pierce was also the editor of National Socialist World, a publication of WUNS (cf. Simonelli, 1999: 124). Although Pierce himself claimed that he never was a member of the American Nazi Party and not even "associated" with it, 2~ from June 1969 to January 1971 he was listed as the associate editor of the journal White Power:

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The Newspaper of White Revolution. The journal was produced by the Na- tional Socialist White People's Party (NSWPP), the successor group of the ANP. In this capacity, Pierce appeared with an article series entitled "Lessons from MEIN KAMPF," in which he carved out his political vision with the help of quotes from Hitler's book (cf. Grumke, 2001a: l12f.). At that time, Pierce wrote:

In short, the present-day democratic states do not serve the racial interests of their creators, but have become instead racially destructive monstrosities. As National Social- ists we reject the libertarian concept of the state as a public utility. We work to build a new type of state--the racial state .... 2

In 1974, the self-styled national socialist Pierce founded the National Alli- ance, which claims to have members in eleven countries worldwide and whose sole and undisputed leader he was until his death.

Another veteran of international neo-Nazi networking is Gary "Gerhard" Lauck. After brief contact with several neo-Nazi groups already while in high school in Lincoln, Nebraska and a short trip to Germany, = Lauck founded the Nat ionalsozial is t ische Deutsche Arbeiter Pa r t e i - -Aus lands und Aufbauorganisation (National Socialist German Workers Party--Overseas Or- ganization: NSDAP/AO) in 1972 at the age of 19. Right from the beginning, Lauck's focus--and therefore the focus of the NSDAP/AO--was on re-establishing the NS-party back in Germany and to continue the policies of Hitler. Gary Lauck himself describes the NSDAP/AO as "the propaganda machine of the National Socialist movement. ''23 In this fashion, the American NSDAP/AO acts as the legal arm of a neo-Nazi network centered on Germany (where such activities are illegal and therefore clandestine).

Lauck sees his main task as agitating in a pan-Aryan sense for the above- mentioned goal in Germany (where his propaganda is illegal) from the USA (where his propaganda is legal) and to build cooperation worldwide. To this end, since 1973 the tabloid NS Kampfrufhas been published in German. The fact, that an English edition (under the title The New Order) was published two years after the German original underscores the NSDAP/AO's fixation on Ger- many in the early years. In the following years, however, the party internation- alized. Since the 1990s, the NSDAP/AO has published in at least ten European languages (cf. Grumke, 2001a: 109ff.).

As early as 1974, Gary Lauck traveled to Germany to meet with like-minded Germans and to give his infamous speech "Why We Americans Still Admire Ado l f Hitler" at a gathering organized by veteran extremist Thies Christopherson. Though involved in his party and propaganda work full- time, Lauck widened his political contacts, especially in Germany, and worked closely with key figures like Michael Kiihnen, the Austrian Gottfried Kiissel, and Christian Worch, up to this day one of the most active right-wing extremists in Germany.

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Allegedly, the NSDAP/AO owned a mailing list with more than 20,000 ad- dresses in Germany alone in the 1990s that received propaganda material. Up until his arrest on March 23, 1995, Lauck was regarded as the leading peddler of fight-wing extremist propaganda worldwide and especially to Germany. In the court case against Lauck, the circulation of NS Kampfruf alone was estimated at 10,000. 24

Gary Lauck was extradited to Germany from Denmark in August 1995 and sentenced to a four-year jail term in Hamburg on August 2, 1996, that he fully served. Completely unshaken in his views, Lauck was returned to the United States in 1999 where he continues his propaganda--now mainly via the Internet.

The Pan-Aryan International&ts

Although some of the above-mentioned extremists are still active, the parameters of international cooperation have fundamentally changed. Interna- tionally networking pan-Aryan right-wing extremism does not only emanate from different historical (post-Cold War), social and biographical conditions, it also has access to totally different means (such as the Internet). It is fairly easy to see, that Hitler worship and NS ideology are no longer the Weltanschauung of international cooperation and that swastikas and stiff arm salutes are not the unifying symbols. In order to show what the current transatlantic and indeed transnational dimension of right-wing extremism is all about, the increasingly complex network of right-wing extremist internationalists will be explored below in more detail.

An important international axis is the cooperation of NPD and its youth wing, Junge Nationaldemokraten (JN), with the National Alliance (NA) of the late Dr. William Pierce, which in turn both have friendly relations with the British National Party (BNP).

According to their self-conception, the Junge Nationaldemokraten are "Eu- ropean nationalists" who aim for a "Europe of nations" that can only become reality, if "all nationalists in Europe join forces in a cross-border Einheitsfront. ''25 In order to strengthen the "sense of camaraderie" trips to other European countries are specifically put on the agenda. For example, the traditional JN-Pfingstlager (during the Pentacostal weekend) from June 9-12, 2000 in Saxony-Anhalt, was attended by 30 Swedish "comrades" under the leadership of Eric H~igglund, the then-chairman of the National Swedish Youth (Nationell Ungdom). The German- Swedish Pfingstlager was repeated from June 1-4, 2001 in the Pfalz-area with about 40 Scandinavians this time. Eric Hagglund contributed a report about his recent "political trip to Moscow" where the cooperation between Swedish and Russian extremists was intensified. 26 H/~gglund in turn was one of the guests of honor at the massive "2.Tag des Nationalen Widerstandes" ("2nd Day of National Resistance") on May 27, 2000 in Passau (Bavaria), organized by NPD and JN.

Additionally, since 1994 JN organizes the yearly "European Youth Con- gress" where, under sometimes conspiratorial circumstances, hundreds of right-

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wing extremists from Germany and abroad gather. In September 1996, as well as on October 18, 1997, a delegate from the National Alliance attended this congress. 27 In an article in the Alliance's journal National Vanguard from spring 1997, entitled "Friends in Germany: The National Democratic Party," both NPD chairman Udo Voigt as well as the NPD itself are praised for radicalizing their policies under Voigt's leadership. The NPD under Voigt "continues to pursue a revolutionary political course and seeks the active cooperation of serious like-minded organizations worldwide. ''2~ In an interview with Udo Voigt that National Alliance member "Wolfgang Keller" held on August 9, 1996, the former confirmed the NPD's interest in the formation of a "worldwide confed- eration of nationalists as a step in the right direction. ''29

On October 24, 1998 the Greek right-wing extremist organization Chrisi Avgi ("Golden Dawn") was the host for the "5th European Youth Congress" in Thessaloniki. In attendance were 150 extremists, among them a JN delegation lead by Alexander von Webenau, at that time chairman of NPD's student group Nationaldemokratischer ttochschulbund (NHB). The star guest and speaker in Thessaloniki was Dr. William Pierce, who, after informal meetings on October 25, traveled to Augsburg (Germany) the following day to meet extremists from Germany and France. 3~

Von Webenau in turn was invited to the National Alliance's seventh "Lead- ership Conference" on April 18, 1998 at the groups headquarters in Hillsboro, West Virginia. Here, he gave a speech in front of an estimated 60 attendees and spent the rest of the week at the compound "as part of a program of developing closer understanding and collaboration between the Alliance and the NPD. ''31 In their monthly Bulletin, the National Alliance adds, that such "collaboration promises to be increasingly valuable to the Alliance as radical nationalists in Germany make gains at an explosive rate and move closer to real power. ''32 According to the Bulletin from September 1998, the highlight of that year 's "Leadership Conference" on September 8 was a report given by the German Alliance member "William Keller" and his assessment "of various German organizations and individuals and their potential for furthering the aims of the Alliance. ''33

On the " ls t Day of National Resistance" that the NPD held in Passau on February 7, 1998, William Pierce once more was one of the foreign guests of honor and was supposed to give a speech, but it was banned by the local authorities. In his preface to the book Alles Grofie steht im Sturm, Pierce writes enthusiastically about this event as "one of the outstanding experiences that I had at a nationalistic meeting . . . . The attendance of this extraordinary event was a spiritual boost that I will live off for a long time" (Apfel, 1999: 23). Also the NPD and the cooperation itself is seen very positively: "Everything that I have ever heard about the NPD in the last decades, I could see confirmed personally during the intensifying collaboration between the NPD and the National Alli- ance" (Ibid.).


Overwhelming agreement is also seen on the strategic level. Pierce is most impressed by:

The awareness by NPD and its leadership that in the future all nationalist organizations have to work hand-in-hand across borders with nationalist groups from other European countries and America. Those patriotic organizations whose vision is limited only to their own country will play a significantly smaller part than those organizations that are able to overcome their historic prejudices and whose strategy is based on cooperation with staunch nationalists around the globe (Apfel, 1999: 23).

In this vein Pierce is optimistic that "the growing and increasingly effective cooperation" between the NPD and the National Alliance "can be intensified in the coming years for the sake of the Vdlker (people) fighting for their survival" (Ibid.). Another significant speaking appearance of the National Alli- ance leader took place on October 30, 1999 at the "6th European Youth Congress" in Falkenberg (Bavaria) attended by extremists from Ireland, France, Italy, Greece, Lithuania, Sweden, Denmark, and Romania. 34

Pierce's "fight for survival" took on more concrete shape on April 2, 2001 when the National Alliance staged a protest outside the German Embassy in Washington, DC. The protest had two purposes, to denounce the imminent ban of the NPD and to demand the release of Hendrik M6bus, a Black Metal neo-Nazi. M6bus, who had brutally murdered a fellow student with two ac- complices in April 1993, had breached his bail requirements after being re- leased from prison having served two-thirds of his sentence and fled to the United States in December 1999. After weeks of observation of the National Alliance compound in Hillsboro, West Virginia, M6bus was arrested nearby by US Marshals in late August 2000. With the help of the Alliance, M6bus applied for political asylum in the United States, which was rejected in March 2001. According to Pierce, the Alliance spent $20,000 on legal fees to avoid the German's deportation, which ultimately happened on July 29, 2001.35

As stated by the National Alliance, the original idea for the demonstration came from the NPD, because "the leaders of the NPD had requested our assis- tance in building pressure in the United States against the German government and its current campaign to ban the NPD because of its Political Incorrect- ness. ''36 Altogether 45 attendees protested more than one hour in front of the German Embassy, among them members of the American Friends of the Brit- ish National Party (AF-BNP) and David Duke's NOFEAR37--as well as Jtirgen Distler, then editor-in-chief of the NPD paper Deutsche Stimme and Jens Piihse, member of the NPD's leadership council. Distler gave a speech at the subse- quent gathering in Arlington, Virginia, which was translated by the German activist Hendrik Ostendorf and very well received by all. 38 Afterwards, the NPD representatives stayed at the Alliance's headquarters in West Virginia for three more days for "very useful discussions, ''39 probably about the expansion of the National Alliance's music business to Europe.

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Pierce had bought the music label Resistance Records in 1999 from Cana- dian George Burdi as well as Swedish music empire Nordland Records together with all band contacts and extensive European address list that same fall. Appointed as manager was Erich Gliebe, son of a German World War II veteran and Alliance activist from Cleveland, Ohio. The avowed fan of the neo-Nazi band Landser stated in an interview with the German music fanzine RockNord: "I hope to continue cooperat ion between Resistance and the German White Power scene. We want to help you in any way we can! ''40

Also present at the gathering in Arlington on April 2, 2001 was the leader of the AF-BNP, Mark Cotteril, who aptly summarized this meeting of right-wing extremists from at least three countries: "Although we are all Nationalists, here today we are only one Nationality, White. It is not an American fight, or a British fight, or a German fight, it is a White fight and we have got to win it. ''41

On July 29, 2001 yet another National Alliance demonstration was staged in front of the German Embassy. This time it was supported by the viciously racist World Church of the Creator. The World Church claims to have a branch in Germany under the leadership of a "Reverend" Alfred Herwig going by the name of Weltkirche des Sch6pfers.

An interesting axis of transnational right-wing extremism has been active between the NPD/JN and the British National Party, which became increasingly active in the United States. Through the American Friends of the BNP (AF-BNP), the British National Party has co-sponsored some events with the National Alliance. 42 In February 1997, William Pierce addressed a BNP gathering in England and was subsequently banned from entering the country again by the British government. In May 2001, Nick Griffin (BNP chairman since November 1999) toured the United States mainly to establish new contacts and to raise funds. On May 12, Efica Hardwick of the Virginia National Alliance lectured once again at an AF-BNP meeting on the "terrible injustice" suffered by Hendrik MObus regarding his then-pending deportation to Germany. 43

Once before, on Easter 2000, Nick Griffin had visited the United States to establish the AF-BNP as sort of an umbrella organization for the notoriously fragmented American extreme right. Present at one event on April 22 was "White Civil Rights leader" David Duke and some of the leading activists and authors of the American scene, including Kirk Lyons, a lawyer from North Carolina. Among the speakers was also German-American NPD member Roy Armstrong. 44 Armstrong, also known under his wife's family name Godenau, has been very close to German extremist veteran Manfred Roeder for decades and is one of the most active links between the German and the American scenes for just as long (cf. Grumke, 2001b). Roeder in turn was an NPD can- didate for the 1998 federal elections and is extremely well connected to right- wing extremist leaders from all over the world and especially the United States. Already in 1976, Roeder had been invited to the United States by then-KKK


leader David Duke and spent extensive time there again on the run from Ger- man authorities in the 1980s.

Roy Armstrong not only drove all the way from Louisiana to Virginia with David Duke for the meeting on April 22, 2000, 45 he is also named as the contact person on the EURO website for Mandeville/Covington, Louisiana, and surrounding areas. 46

Before returning to the United States and going to jail for tax violations and bilking supporters in April 2003 after entering a plea bargain, 47 David Duke spent a lot of time in Russia and the Ukraine where he met with activists of the rapidly rising right-wing extremist scene and peddled his translated book The Jewish Question Through the Eyes of an American. When the FBI searched Duke's house in a New Orleans suburb on November 16, 2000 and seized several boxes of evidence, somebody else was present: Roy Armstrong.

In Moscow, Duke did not only receive the longed-for recognition that people in his home country largely refused, he also moved closer and closer to other internationally very well connected fight-wing extremist circles: the holocaust deniers.

Holocaust Denial

The globally operating community of Holocaust "revisionists" is another vital part of the international network of right-wing extremism. While activists from all continents are taking part in regularly occurring congresses and conferences, the same faces of professional global players can be seen at all these events. 48 With almost religious zeal the "rectification" of history is discussed here--and money is made.

On January 26 and 27, 2002, Moscow was the scene of an international conference entitled "The Global Problems of World History," sponsored by the American magazine Barnes Review. Well-known attendees were Morocco- born Swede Ahmed Rami, German-born Australian Fredrick Toben, fugitive Swiss activist Jfirgen Graf, and frequent traveler David Duke. In a live radio interview from Moscow with extremist radio show host Hal Turner on February 12, 2002, the wanted Duke said that he had been travelling in recent years to Italy, Aus- tria, Germany, Switzerland and Romania to spread his extremist message.

The organizer of the event was reportedly Oleg Platonov, a Russian who also is the co-editor of the well-known revisionist Journal for Historical Review, published by the Institute for Historical Review (IHR), based in Newport Beach, Cali- fornia, one of the leading American outfits specialized in Holocaust denial.

The IHR's yearly conferences between 1979 and 2000 all took place inside the United States. The planned March 2001 conference was not only different regarding the location, Beirut, but also concerning strategy. Even though it could not take place as planned after being banned by the Lebanese government, this event can be seen as a watershed in the strategy of Holocaust deniers. Here, the organizers wanted to tie in with the increasingly significant

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discussion concerning a review of relations to Islam and especially to Arab "freedom fighters." Binding ties are the fight against "Zionism" and the Jew- ish state--Israel. This is very much the position of a scheduled German speaker for Beirut: the omnipresent one-man ideology factory Horst Mahler.

A key figure in this network is also Ahmad Huber, a Swiss national who converted to Islam in the 1960s and who is extremely well connected internationally as well. In an interview .with NPD's Deutsche Stimme, Huber made clear that he rejects Nazi-style biological racism but that he nonetheless can see positive sides of the Third Reich: "Muslims will never forget, that Ger- many and its Wehrmacht (Army) were in consistent dispute with the colonial powers England, France, Belgium, and Holland. Just for that reason, we evaluate the Third Reich differently, also because the Third Reich from the Muslims point of view had some interesting Islamic elements. ''49 The interview closed with Huber's statement: "We Muslims now rise up, we are now awakened and will bring order to our area in the state of Allah. ''5~

Huber, who is reported to have been involved in financially supporting Osama bin Laden's A1 Qaida through his position in Nada Management Orga- nization (formerly: A1 Taqwa), 5~ attended JN's "7th European Youth Congress" in late October 2000. He spoke before approximately 400 attendees from Ger- many, Switzerland, Italy, France, Great Britain, Ireland, Portugal, Greece, and Spain. 52 Huber was also a special guest at NPD's Deutsche Stimme press festi- val on September 8, 2001 in Grimma (Saxony).

Another world traveler of "revisionism" is British historian David Irving. During his many appearances in the United States, six times at the yearly IHR conference alone and several times by invitation from the National Alliance, he built relations with leading American extremists like David Duke. In Ger- many, Irving was active as a speaker on several occasions, for example, at events of Deutsche Volksunion (DVU). His friendly relations with the DVU date back to the early 1980s, when the Englishman received the "European Freedom Award" of DVU's Deutsche National Zeitung on May 9, 1982. As stated in court documents related to Irving vs. Penguin and Lipstadt, 53 Irving had contacts in the 1980s and 1990s with leading German right-wing extremists like Gtinter Deckert (former chairman of NPD) or Christian Worch. It was also revealed that he had received donations from 4017 individuals, among them 2495 from the United States and Canada. 54 Irving admitted to National Zeitung in an interview published in May 2002, that despite the lost court case and entry bans against him in Germany, Canada, Italy, France, and Australia he plans on continuing to publish extensively and that his current project is a large biography of Himmler? 5

Increasingly popular for right-wing extremists are the United States with its liberal laws regarding speech and free expression (based on the 1st Amend- ment), especially for Holocaust deniers who are in conflict with the law in their less liberal home countries. In early 2001, German-born revisionist Ernst Ztindel


married his long-time collaborator Ingrid Rimland and moved to Tennessee to avoid extradition from Canada, where he had lived since the 1950s. 56 Simi- larly, Germar Rudolf, one of the foremost Holocausts deniers worldwide who has close ties to the Institute for Historical Review, is wanted by German authorities and currently living in Alabama. Rudolf reportedly is trying to ac- quire resident status by marriage to an American woman. The aforementioned Irving, who officially declared bankruptcy in March 2002 after his defeat in the Lipstadt case, enjoys long stays in sunny Key West, Florida.

Right-Wing Extremists as Globalized Anti-Globalizers

Right-wing extremists are building more and more complex international networks. Right-wing extremist global players like Horst Mahler, William Pierce, David Duke, or Ahmad Huber appear in many different countries and play a very vital role as "bad will ambassadors" of their respective groups. Central ideological elements of international and indeed transatlantic right-wing extremism are pan-Aryan racism, anti-Semitism, as well as (revolutionary) enmity towards the " sys tem" (a.k.a. ZOG) while making use o f modern communication technologies such as the Internet (cf. Grumke, 2001c).

Today, it is not unlikely that a right-wing extremist CD is recorded in Po- land, pressed in the United States, and sold via the Internet in Sweden. A Ger- man neo-Nazi can possibly see his favorite band from Texas live in Switzerland. Internationally active networks such as Blood & Honour, Hammerskins, or Resistance Records earned, according to Interpol, around $3.4 million in 1999 alone through the sale of music (which is largely indexed in Europe)? 7

International networking strengthens the right-wing extremist infrastructure, makes production and sale of propaganda easier and, last but not least, has a very motivating effect on some activists who can view themselves as part of a "great" cause that is larger than their own country. In an interview with Zentralorgan, a very significant German journal, William Pierce--who is described as a "special friend of the German resistance"--gives his assessment of transatlantic cooperation:

Since both sides only can benefit from collaborating across borders and since technical and logistical means have improved significantly in recent years, nothing is in the way of further cooperation. That is in everybody's interest. 58

Besides attending events, the Internet can, as an important communication tool (not a recruiting tool), lend a sense of connectivity and solidarity--the sense that "I am not alone." Right-wing extremist X, who before was isolated in tiny village Y, and had to wait impatiently for the next issue of extremist magazine Z, now probably received as many as 100 e-mails from all over the globe telling him how great the cause is that he believes in. Especially for European activists, American Internet servers play a vital role in spreading

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propaganda in countries, where this content is illegal. A language barrier does not seem to exist, German translations of American texts or strategy papers are common. Interestingly, the United States is becoming more and more important as a "rest and retreat" location for internationally active right-wing extremists. They take advantage of the American legal situation favoring total freedom of speech. In the United States, many threads of the international right-wing extremist network meet (revisionists, music business, internet, fundraising). While up until the 1980s, Germany was seen as the "birthplace of the movement" and the center of the right-wing extremist orbit from where all vital ideological impulses (in recourse to the Nazi regime) emanated, the situation is almost reversed today (cf. Grumke, 2001b). Currently, the transfer of ideology and propaganda is going eastwards from the "Land of the Free" to Europe and the rest of the world, even though the significant activists are not nearly always Americans.

Increasingly, Russia, where internet domains can be obtained at a bargain price, has emerged as another important focal point for international right-wing extremism. That even provoked David Duke to pose the question: "Is Russia the Key to White Survival?" His answer: as a "White nation" with a high level of anti- Semitism, Russia will be "critically important to the coming struggle. ''59

Current internationally active right-wing extremists operate on a completely different social, political, economical as well as technological basis than all extremists before. The present situation is not conceivable without the end of the Cold War and without the adjustment of the political and especially economical spheres (Lebenswelten), that make the above stated central ideological elements compatible and attractive for right-wing extremists worldwide. Apart from the case studies presented in this article, the number of coopera- tions with activists from South America, Australia, and South Africa are growing or are deepening.

Right-wing extremists, who are by now among the fiercest critics and oppo- nents of the processes of globalization, at the same time are "globalizing" their efforts themselves. It is not any more determining from which country "white resistance" is coming, but how it is done. "Extremists in exile" like Jtirgen Graf, Germar Rudolf, or up until recently, David Duke, continue their political work unchanged at their respective new locations.

In Germany, the NPD praised Jean Marie Le Pen after the French presiden- tial elections, arguing that his success (reaching the run-off) "is a clear sign that French people are turning away from the globalization policies of the French government. ''6~

The pivotal topic of globalization in the right-wing extremist context stands globally for the power of (Jewish dominated) high finance, for American cultural imperialism and for "multiracial genocide" or a "race annihilating ex- panse of ruins," that "Washington, Wall Street, and Hollywood aim for" as BNP-chairman Nick Griffin put it in an interview with Deutsche Stimme. 6L This world view is in turn compatible with select fundamentalist forces in the


Islamic world. In this context, it does not matter any more if the United States is seen as "Zionist occupied" or as the "Great Satan"---the World Trade Center in both cases is the towering symbol of "mammonistic world rule."

Meanwhile, the NPD tries to capitalize on the widely discussed globalization theme and chairman Udo Voigt even dreams that his party will become the spearhead of all German anti-globalization activists. One of the most vocal right-wing extremists, Horst Mahler, gives a taste of what anti-globalization rhetoric from the extreme right can sound like: "The Cause of the peoples has good prospects. Faced with the choice of fighting or going under, they will choose to struggle and will prevail, for the enemy has become spiritless and without vision for the world of tomorrow. ''62 As David Duke puts it, the wider population are supposed to learn from the "growing worldwide movement for truth, freedom, and heritage," because "we all know that no White nationality can survive unless every White nationality survives. We cannot win this struggle unless we stand indivisible against an implacable enemy whose hatred for us has grown and deepened for two millennia. ''63

Notes

1. I would like to thank very much Dr. Heidi Beirich and Mark Potok from the Southem Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Project for their continuous support and valuable advice beyond regarding the completion of this article. Here and in the following all German quotes are translated by me. I am aware of the debate on the terminology regarding the phenomenon of extremism from the right (cf. Hainsworth 2000: 1-17; Mudde 2000). In this article, I use the term right-wing extremism and propose the following working definition: "The totality of those beliefs, behaviour and actions, organized or not, that categorically deny the fundamental equality of all human beings, stress the primacy of the collective (Gemeinschafi) over the individual, reject the pluralism of values of a liberal democracy and aim specifically--with the acceptance of violence--at the abolishment of the democratic-pluralistic society" (cf. Grumke 2001 a). Junge Nationaldemokraten are the youth organisation of the Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands (NPD), currently the most active German right-wing extremist party. Jtirgen Distler, "Solidarit~t ist eine Waffe," in: Deutsche Stimme, Nov. 1997, p. 12. Deutsche Stimme is the NPD's monthly newspaper. The original phrase is "Kampf gegen die Oberfremdung" which is to be understood both in a cultural and a biological/racial sense. Michael Kiihnen, Lexikon der Neuen Front, 1987 (download from www.nazi-lauck-nsdapao.com on May 10, 2003). William Pierce died on July 23, 2002 at the age of 68 from cancer. This volume was edited by the former chairman of JN and current member of the leading circle of the NPD, Holger Apfel.

10. David Duke, "Is Russia the Key to White Survival?," 2000 (downloaded from www.davidduke.org on May 20, 2003).

11. "Independence-Day live," accessable in German on the webpage of Mahler's outfit Deutsches Kolleg at www.deutsches-kolleg.org. An English translation, which has been widely circulated, is available at http://www.regmeister.net/kolleg/dk2.htm.

12. Ibid. 13. For some examples see the compilation ofthe Anti-Defamation League starting at: http://www.adl.org/

terrorism%5Famerica/saying_l 21101 .asp.

2. 3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8. 9.

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14. Horst Mahler, "Der Globalismus als h6chstes Stadium des lmperialismus erzwingt die Auferstehung der deutschen Nation," in: StaatsbrieJe, Nr. 5-7/1999; p. 20.

15. National Alliance Bulletin, "Report from Greece," November 1998, p. 12. 16. NationalAlliance Bulletin, "Die Turner Tageb~cher in Print," December 1998, p. 1. 17. National Alliance Bulletin, "Report from Greece," November1998, p. l O. 18. More on Devi in the excellent study by Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke (2000). 19. On July 5 and 6, 1975, the Danish neo-Nazi Paul Heinrich Riis-Knudsen organized a meeting in

Aarhus with about 40 right-wing extremists from Europe and the USA with the aim to establish a new WUNS platform. In attendance, among others, was the German veteran Manfred Roeder, who is currently still active at the age of 75.

20. In a personal interview with the author on September 12, 1997 in Hillsboro, West Virginia. 21. Dr. William Pierce, "Lessons from MEIN KAMPF," in: White Power, Jan./Feb. 1970, p. 5. 22. Lauck confirms to have worked as a propagandist for a small fee for the Chicago-based National

Socialist Party of America (NSAP). Here, he established personal contact with Albert Brinkmann, the leader ofNationalsozialistische Kampftruppe Horst Wessel in New York.

23. In a letter to the author from November 15, 1996. 24. Cf. Landgericht Hamburg - Grol3e Strafkammer 27, Ruling against Gary Lauck from August 22,

1996 (Az. 627 KLs 7/96 und 140 Js 3/92), p. 19. 25. Cf. "Junge Nationaldemokraten - Aus unseren politischen Leits/itzen" downloaded from the JN-

webite on April 24, 2002 (http://www.npd.net/npd-pv/jugend/index.html). 26. Cf. the report by Alexander Delle on the http://www.jn-buvo.de (downloaded on April 24, 2002) as

well as the article in Deutsche Stimme 6/2001, p. 11. 27. Cf. Jtirgen Distler, "Solidarit~it ist eine Waffe," in: Deutsche Stimme, Nov. 1997, p. 12. 28. "Friends in Germany: The National Democratic Party" in: National Vanguard, March/April 1997,

p. 23. 29. Ibid., p. 25. 30. National Alliance Bulletin, "Report from Greece," November1998, p. l O. 31. National Alliance Bulletin, "April Leadership Conference," April1998, p. 1. 32. Ibid. 33. NationalAlliance Bulletin, "Leadership Conference," September 1998, p. 1. It can only be assumed

that this is the same person who interviewed Udo Voigt for National Vanguard (see endnotes 28 and 29). In the March 1997 Bulletin a "William K." is mentioned who took part in a major demonstration on March 1, 1997 in Munich together with Scottish Alliance members. One photo has the capture: "Member William K. carries one end of an Alliance banner in the March 1 demonstration. Further collaboration with the NPD is anticipated" (National Alliance Bulletin, "Report from Germany," March 1997, p. 2)

34. Cf. "6. Europ~.ischer KongreB der Jugend. Zusammenarbeit vertiefl," in: Deutsche Stimme 1/2000, p. 8. 35. William Pierce, "Demonstrating for Freedom," American Dissident Voices Broadcast, August 1 I,

2001. 36. National Alliance Bulletin, "NPD Support Demonstration," March 2OO l, p. 2. 37. The National Organization for European American Rights (NOFEAR) has been renamed to EURO

(European-American Unity and Rights Organization) after a trademark dispute. 38. Cf. National Alliance Bulletin, March 2001, p. 2 and Heritage and Destiny. The Magazine ~f the

American Friends' of the BNP, May/June 2001, p. 4t\ 39. NationalAlliance Bulletin, March 2001, S.2. 40. "Resistance. Der Ph6nix aus der Asche," in: RockNord, Nr. 66/67 (2001), p. 41. 41. Cited from: Heritage and Destiny. The Magazine of the American Friends' of the BNP, May/June

2001, p. 5. 42. The AF-BNP imploded after the Southern Povertv Law Center publicly exposed that funds had

been raised under infringement of American and British laws. Cf. SPLC Intelligence Report, "Hands across the Water," Fall 2001, p. 14ft.

43. Heritage and Destiny. The Magazine of the American Friend~' of the BNP, May/June 2001, p. 7. 44. Cf. Heritage and Destiny. The Magazine of the American Friends" of the BNP, Summer 2000, p. 5. 45. Ibid., p. 6. 46. http://www.whitecivilrights.com/ero_contacts.shtml. 47. For me details, I recommend the SPLC Intelligence Report spring 2003.


48. This longstanding network can not nearly be analyzed in this article in its entirety. For an excellent, more detailed account see Lipstadt, Deborah E. (1993): Denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory, Free Press.

49. Interview with Ahmad Huber in: Deutsche Stimme 9/2001, p. 3. 50. lbid. 51. More details on this fascinating story: Martin Lee, "The Swastika and the Crescent," in: SPLC

Intelligence Report, Spring 2002. 52. http://www.jn-buvo.de/aktionen/eurok_2000.htm. 53. David Irving sued Deborah Lipstadt and her British publisher, Penguin Books, for libel in a 2000

London trial that made headlines around the world. Despite England's draconian libel laws, Lipstadt and Penguin not only won resoundingly, but also exposed the inner workings of the deniers. The judge found Irving to be a "right-wing pro-Nazi polemicist" who "deliberately misrepresented and manipulated historical evidence." (http://www.holocaustdenialontrial.org/)

54. Regarding Irving's contacts see the expose by Prof. Dr. Hajo Funke on http:// www.holocaustdenialontrial.org/evidence/funke004. Regarding the donations see D.D. Guttenplan/ Martin Bright, "David Irving's Secret Backers," in: The Observer, March 3, 2002.

55. "Deutschland ist immer noch besetztes Land. David Irving im Exklusiv-lnterview," in: National- Zeitung, Nr.21/2002 (May, 17, 2002), pp. 1 and 7.

56. Zfindel has since been extradited to Canada from the United States because of visa violations where he is currently in jail.

57. Cf. "White Pride World Wide," in: SPLC Intelligence Report, Fall 2001, p. 26. 58. Interview with Dr. William Pierce, in: Zentralorgan, Nr.4/1998. 59. David Duke, "Is Russia the Key to White Survival?," 2000 (http://www.davidduke.org/dukereport/

10-00.html). 60. "NPD: Erfreulicher Wahlsonntag in Frankreich," press release from May 22, 2002 (http://npd.net/

npd_info/pressemitteilungen/2002/2204-1 .html). 61. "Freiheitsrechte der VOlker zur~ckfordern," in: Deutsche Stimme, 3/2002, p. 3. 62. Cf. endnote 11. 63. Cf. endnote 58.

References

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Goodrick-Clarke, Nicholas (2000): Hitler's Priestess: Savitri Devi, the Hindu-Aryan Myth and Neo- Nazism, New York: New York University Press.

Grumke, Thomas (2001a): Rechtsextremismus in den USA, Opladen: Leske + Budrich. Grumke, Thomas (2001b): "Beziehungen zwischen Rechtsextremisten in den USA und Deutschland,

1945-1990" in: Detlef Junker et al. (Hrsg.), Die USA und Deutschland im Zeitalter des Kalten Krieges, 1945-1990. Ein Handbuch (2 B~nde), StuttgaWMfinchen (DVA), S. 740-749 (Band 2).

Grumke, Thomas (2001 c): "Globalisierter Rechtsextremismus", in: Die Neue Gesellschal~/Frankfurter Hefte, April, p. 220-223.

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Hainsworth, Paul (ed.) (2000): The Politics of the Extreme Right. From the Margins to the Mainstream, London and New York: Pinter.

Kaplan, Jeffrey/Bjorgo, Tore (1998): Nation and Race. The Emerging Euro-American Racist Subcul- ture, Boston: Northeastern Univ. Press.

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Minkenberg, Michael (2001): "Rechtsradikalismus/Rechtsextremismus," in: Dieter Nohlen (Hrsg.), Kleines Lexikon der Politik, Mfinchen: Beck.

Mudde, Cas (2000): The Ideology of the Extreme Right, Manchester: Manchester Univ. Press. Simonelli, Frederick J. (1999): American Fuehrer." George Lincoln Rockwell and the American Nazi

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Transatlantic Dimension of Right Wing Extremism

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