The defeat and collapse of fascism during the Second World War led most people to believe that "fascism was eliminated completely." However, that has by no means been the case. It is true that the foremost representatives of fascism have been removed from power, but the foundations of their ideology (Darwinism, the love of violence and racism) still survive. For that reason, the death of Hitler or Mussolini did not mean the death of fascism. On the contrary, the widespread belief that "fascism had ceased to exist" only prepared the ground for the development of new fascist groups. Fascism survived, sometimes under its original name, other times by disguising itself. In fact, it enjoyed a particular rise in prominence during the 1990s.
This chapter will examine this new upsurge of fascism and the threat it poses to the world. We shall first see how racism is alive and well in Europe, and then consider the proliferation of neo-Nazi organizations. Finally, we shall identify the ideology behind this phenomenon, the hidden face behind the growing trends in racism.
According to official German figures, there were 10,037 incidents of a racist or xenophobic nature in 1999. Racist incidents in 2000 numbered more than 10,000. The number of such incidents in Great Britain was 10,982 between April and September alone. Half of these crimes consisted of threats or intimidation. Many of them, however, ended in death, injury, burning or destruction of property. Those responsible were fascist gangs known as neo-Nazis.
The neo-Nazi movement became effectively organized in the 1990s. Before that, there were the skinheads of Britain in the 1970s. The defining characteristic of the skinhead movement were attacks on people in impoverished areas inhabited by refugees and foreigners. Only some of these incidents were racist. But in the 1990s, most of the skinheads took to racism and began carrying out racist and fascist attacks as supporters of Nazism.
At present, the neo-Nazi movement is growing stronger and spreading. They are active today in 33 countries and on six continents. They number some 70,000. The members of these street gangs are generally aged between 13 and 25 and use the Internet to communicate.
Neo-Nazis have different targets in different countries. According to one piece of research, they organize against the Turks in Germany, against the gypsies in Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, against the Asians in Britain, North Africans in France, people from the Northeast in Brazil, and against all minorities and refugees in America. In some countries, the unemployed and those living in poor areas can be chosen as targets.
These Nazi-imitating young people are mainly drug addicts, and unemployed street ruffians. They can be easily recognized by the Nazi symbols on their clothes, their shaven heads, and their tattoos, generally referring to their hatred of other races. In their slogans, language, and songs, they praise Hitler and vow to make his dreams come true: A world ruled by the Aryan race.
The kind of people who join these gangs are young, from dysfunctional families, badly educated, unsupervised, and with little self-confidence. By despising others, using violence and fear, they help deceive themselves into believing that they belong to a group that is superior to others.
Fascists in Our Day: The Neo-Nazis |
Since the 1990s, racist attacks by groups known as Skinheads have been increasing. These gangs generally consist of poorlyeducated young people, who were brought up in dysfunctional environments, have little selfconfidence, and tend towards all types of crime and violence. |
Among their characteristics, we can list hatred, intimidation, threatening behavior, destructiveness, and harmfulness. The greatest perpetrators of these are regarded among them as heroes.
Neo-Nazis also have their own particular style of music. These circles regard music as a propaganda tool. The lyrics of their songs reveal their racist, paranoid and aggressive attitudes. The names of their songs and groups also carry the same message: with names such as "Vampire," "White Noise," "Battleground," "Razor Edge," and "White Warriors."
Fascism by Way of Music |
The neo-Nazi movement is developing as a subculture that is beginning to have an increasing influence on ignorant and problematic segments of the population. Music is a factor in the rise of this new fascism. Typical ideals of fascism, such as love of violence, racism and aggression, are inspired in these groups by rock and heavy metal bands, who are themselves influenced by neo-Nazi ideology |
These groups are able to give concerts wherever they wish in European countries, such as Germany, Belgium and the United Kingdom, attended by thousands of young people, and accompanied by Nazi salutes.
Neo-Nazis also have their own fans outside of their organizations. Football hooligans head the list here. Skinheads and various other hooligans have attended sporting events and shouted chants against players of other ethic groups or nationalities, even attacked opposing fans, and initiated fist-fights in the stands, that at times have ended in death. These gangs, even though they are not actually neo-Nazis, can also easily be aroused for neo-Nazi actions. By neo-Nazi organizers, they are seen as people who can be easily manipulated, because they also enjoy neo-Nazi music, and therefore, under the right mix of Nazi propaganda, can be rallied and called to action at any time. It is in this way that racist movements continue to poison the younger generation and win new adherents.
Hooligan Savagery |
The hooligans are another reflection of the developing fascist mentality. These groups have been responsible for attacks that have at times resulted in death. 39 Italian fans were killed in a fight as they were leaving a match in Brussels. In the quarterfinals of the World Cup in Switzerland in 1954, when Hungary beat Brazil, the changing rooms became a battlefield. The match is still remembered as the "Battle of Berne." |
The reason why neo-Nazi movements in Europe have been able to become so powerful is the secret support they enjoy from the rest of society and from politicians. Many parties active in Europe today and under various names actually exercise fascist tendencies and actively support the neo-Nazis. Beyond this politicization, neo-Nazis think that they can achieve their ends by violence and street actions.
As we have seen throughout this book, this is a typical characteristic of fascism. Fascists think that they will not be able to win the battle of ideas in a democratic environment. They believe instead in the law of the jungle, and that right belongs to the strong, not to the conscientious. In their opinion, aggression and oppression are the greatest factors.
The neo-Nazis are representatives of a broader radical racist movement in Europe. They are the "sharp edge" of the fascist axe, to coin a phrase. But this axe also has its roots, and these represent a wider social and political constituency than the neo-Nazis themselves. The racism of the neo-Nazis is a reflection of growing racist tendencies in Europe.
Most interestingly, racism is still an insidious problem in the Europe culture, which places great importance on democracy and human rights. According to research carried out in 1997, racists comprise some 33 percent of Europe's general population. This figure is higher in Belgium, France and Austria. 55 percent of Belgians describe themselves as "quite" or "very racist" and the figures are 48 percent in France and 42 percent in Austria. In Germany the number of racists is about 34 percent. So when neo-Nazis throw Molotov cocktails and chant "Foreigners out!" they are actually carrying out the thoughts of 35 percent of the population.140
The "Pasqua law" of 1993, named after French interior minister Charles Pasqua, greatly alarmed foreigners living in France with the extended powers of search it granted to the police. Even the houses of French citizens of foreign origin were subjected to dawn raids and their inhabitants taken into custody, including men, women and children. These foreigners were treated like war criminals: questioned for days, and some had their arms or legs broken under torture.141
Traces of Racism Throughout the World | |
1. Slobodan Milosevic | 4. Russia |
Racist Neo-Nazi movements are spreading to many countries. At the root of such movements is a fascistic hatred of peoples of other nations. Fascism also came to power in Serbia, and in imitation of Hitler, the fascist Slobodan Milosevic, carried out "ethnic cleansing" of Muslims reminiscent of the crimes of World War II. |
The 17-year-old Zairois Nikomé was shot in a Paris police station having been detained on suspicion of theft. A protest march was held the next day (April 7, 1993), and two Blacks who took part were beaten and killed by the French police. Those workers and students in France legally, and with residence permits, began to live in even greater fear and distress, when it came to light that a French citizen of Moroccan origin was tortured and left for dead by three French police officers.
Such events show that racism is still an important threat in Europe.
Ilya Ehrenburg, the author of the book Europe After Fascism, sets out the current form of racism that still persists in Europe:
Above everything fascism means national hatred, the opposite of national pride. People infected with fascism have no concept of feeling pride in other peoples' cultures, and only feel pride in their own roots…142
This national hatred is a deviant moral tendency described by God as "fanatical rage of the time of ignorance" (Koran, 48:26) God reveals in the Koran that this "fanatical rage" is a characteristic of paganism, one that Islam is protected from. This makes evident to us once again that fascist racism is born of the abandonment of religion, and its replacement with paganism.
It appears that the increasing prevalence of racist tendencies in Europe must be related to neo-Nazi movements, who are gaining further ground every day, as well as to paganism.
And so it is.
When the words "fascist organizations" are mentioned in our time, most people first think of the German neo-Nazis. But there are in actuality many more such organizations. There are several active groups in the United States which are given more "theoretical" weight than the German neo-Nazis. These groups generally go by the slogan of "White Supremacy." And, most important of all, theirs is not a "hatred of foreigners" resulting from economic difficulties, but is put forward rather as a philosophical and scientific doctrine.
Various fascist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, the American Nazi Party, the Aryan Nation movement, and the National Alliance all come under the umbrella of "White Supremacy." The aim of these groups, who disseminate extensive propaganda over the Internet, is to defend racism as a doctrine and worldview, and to facilitate its spread.
The basis of such a doctrine is clearly set out in the manifesto of one of these groups, the National Alliance. The truly interesting thing is that this manifesto is a corroboration of what we have investigated throughout this book, that fascism is fundamentally a pagan and Darwinist ideology.
The fascist National Alliance stresses the difference between themselves and "Semitic beliefs" (Islam, Christianity and Judaism), and states that they believe only in nature, that they are evolutionists, whereas "Semitic beliefs" are based on faith in God:
We see ourselves as integral with a unitary world around us, which evolves according to natural law. In the simplest words: There is only one reality, which we call Nature... We are a part of Nature and subject to Nature's laws. Within the scope of these laws we are able to determine our own destiny... In other words, we ourselves are responsible for everything over which we have the power of choice: in particular, for the state of our environment and for the destiny of our race. This view may be contrasted with the Semitic view... They believe that it is not necessary for men to concern themselves with the future, beyond planning for their own needs, because their god has everything under control.143
Religion is clearly opposed to fascism. The latter considers man to be "a product of nature," whereas religion teaches that man was created by God, and that God determines his destiny.
Fascist Organizations in the USA |
From left to right. Symbols and slogans of American racist and fascist organizations. |
The Ku Klux Klan (above and below right) which hates Blacks, the Aryan Nation, and the American Nazi Party, are active fascistic groups. |
The Ku Klux Klan and American Nazis: |
Racist and fascist organizations are spreading rapidly in the United States. 1. The American neo-Nazi Gary Lauck with a book supporting the German neo-Nazis. |
In the fascist National Alliance manifesto, the evolutionist logic behind its racist ideology is described in the following terms:
Our world is hierarchical. Each of us is a member of the Aryan (or European) race, which, like the other races, developed its special characteristics over many thousands of years during which natural selection not only adapted it to its environment but also advanced it along its evolutionary path. Those races which evolved in the more demanding environment of the North, where surviving a winter required planning and self-discipline, advanced more rapidly in the development of the higher mental faculties...144
In other words, it is claimed that the Aryan race is superior to others because it has "evolved further." The National Alliance goes even further, claiming that racism is a "duty to nature," and bases this assertion on an appeal to Nietzsche's philosophy:
First, we have an obligation to the Nature of which we are a part to participate as effectively as we can in its eternal quest for higher levels of development, higher forms of life. This obligation has been recognized and expressed by our poets and philosophers throughout our history. Friedrich Nietzsche told us that our first responsibility is to help prepare the world for the coming of a higher type of man. Nature has refined and honed the special qualities embodied in the Aryan race so we would be better able to fulfill the mission allotted to us. Even though Nature also has developed other forms of life, including other races of man, we have a special obligation to our own race: to ensure its survival, to safeguard its unique characteristics, to improve its quality.145
The National Alliance, based in the United States, produces books and magazines in Swedish, French, German, Portuguese and Russian, and is rapidly spreading its Darwinist, pagan ideology. The cover of the organization's fascist National Vanguard magazine is decorated with statues of ancient Greek gods. Its articles frequently quote from the works of Darwin, and presents, based on Darwin's evolutionary national selection mechanism, such claims as, "a race eternally at war with the rest of the world has a distinct survival advantage over those races with an attitude of live and let live."146
One can find similar statements, and Darwinist opinions, as well as propaganda defending the errant culture of paganism against the divine religions, in the publications and web sites of other fascist organizations.
Fascistic racism, whose birth coincided with the re-awakening of paganism and the theory of evolution in the 19th century, continues to grow in the 21st century, based on these same fundamental delusions.
Those who disbelieve filled their hearts with fanatical rage-the fanatical rage of the Time of Ignorance-and God sent down serenity to His Messenger and to the believers, and obliged them to respect the formula of heedfulness which they had most right to and were most entitled to. God has knowledge of all things. (Koran, 48:26)
As we have seen, racism, one of the fundamental characteristics of fascism, is on the rise in Europe, and behind it lies the spread of the Darwinist-paganism. But has pagan morality, which justifies the love of violence, bloodshed and mercilessness, other core fundamentals of fascism, also survived?
Yes, it is alive, and thriving.
In his book, titled Modern Fascism: Liquidating the Judeo-Christian Worldview, the American historian Gene Edward Veith explains how fascist culture is still alive and kicking:
In the 1930s, avant-garde artists shocked the bourgeoisie with their aesthetic theories that glorified violence and the release of primitive emotions. Today, if you like examples of early fascist aesthetics, simply go to the latest Hollywood blockbuster, turn on MTV, or go to a Heavy Metal concert. Here you will see realized the fascists' artistic ideals: pleasure from violence; the thrill of moral rebellion; the cult of the Aryan body. The grisly blood-letting of a slasher movie; the body-builder who takes the law into his own hands by machine-gunning his enemies; the masses of teenagers slam-dancing as Metallica sings 'Scream, as I'm killing you!'—such art is the quintessence of the fascist aesthetic.147
There is a fascistic influence hidden in the "popular culture" of our daily lives. This culture, with its passion for violence which we see in films, cartoons, rock concerts and music clips, is the result of the Darwinist-fascist ideology. This point of view, which regards man as a species of animal, and maintains that the only law of nature consists of "killing, fighting and destruction," all which it portrays as justified, intelligent and scientific, is inciting people in our own time towards acts of violence and an aggressive, crude, savage and bloodthirsty attitude, just as it had incited people to Nazi barbarity in 1930s Germany.
It is sufficient to consider the media to recognize the place of fascism in our daily lives. Family members stabbing each other over trivial matters, fanatical fans beating each other to death after a football match, children wickedly killing their father to lay their hands on an inheritance, psychopaths who kidnap a small child and torture him or her to death, only to say that they did it "for fun"…
There are so many examples like these that most people have begun to regard them as "normal" and "inevitable." In actual fact, they are merely the end-product of a "mentality" that is becoming increasingly widespread. Entire nations are being brainwashed from early on, brought up with such false notions as "Life is a struggle, only the strong win," or "Get them, before they get you," and who consistently see such messages in the films they watch, the songs they listen to, and the news stories prevalent in the media.
The perpetrators reported in these stories usually come from the ranks of the uneducated in society. The "elite" of society, provoked by this same mentality, also carry out the similar crimes, but do so in a more hidden fashion, or in a manner that comes within their line of occupation, and are therefore less easily identifiable.
This disturbing tendency towards violence in modern societies is well-known, but no solution can yet be found for it. One important impediment is the fact that this violence is regarded as "normal." A second reason is that most people do not realize its true source. They think that the problem can be resolved by resorting to legal and security measures. But they are wrong. Of course, such "technical" measures are necessary, but the true solution lies in determining the source of this degeneration in society, and to cure the sickness ideologically.
The source of this degeneration, as this book has tried to make evident, is Darwinism. Ideas such as "Life is a struggle, and only the strong can win," and "If you don't get them, they will get you," have their roots in Darwinism, are all ultimately responsible for the current increase in "fascism in daily life" throughout the world.
Some people might object to this diagnosis, and say that "most people who carry out violent actions have never heard of Darwinism." And this is partly true. Those who commit these increasing acts of violence may well never have heard of Darwinism. But those who govern that section of society and shape their perspective do draw their inspiration from Darwinism. This group is powerful and dominant in universities, the media, many scientific institutions, in the arts and literature, in cinema and television, and in many areas which influence the way people think. And it is they who disseminate the idea that "Life is a struggle, and only the strong can win."
This community, which guides society in its direction, believes blindly in Darwinism, and regard themselves, not as created by God and as His servants with obligations towards Him, but as developed animals that have evolved from apes, and whose only purpose is "conflict." This Darwinist ideology is regularly presented in newspapers, magazines and on the television.
However, all such people, that is, the community which produces such so-called news stories, the "elite" which helps to create this world-view, are utterly mistaken. Contrary to the claims of Darwinism, man is not an animal which came about by chance and whose only purpose in life is to fight. Man was created by God, and is responsible for living by the morals He has revealed. And, again contrary to Darwinist propaganda, science confirms the truth that the universe was divinely created, or creationism, not Darwinism. As revealed in the Koran:
He is God—the Creator, the Maker, the Giver of Form. To Him belong the Most Beautiful Names. Everything in the heavens and earth glorifies Him. He is the Almighty, the All-Wise. (Koran, 48:26)
In order to escape the fascist influenced culture which denies creation by God, this so-called philosophy of Darwinism must be eradicated, and people freed from its deception. The important thing is, to silence those voices who whisper to others to believe: "Be ruthless, shed blood, kill, this is your instinct, you are only an animal, and when you die your life will be over." When this voice is silenced, those it has hypnotized will be allowed to see the truth, and will understand their purpose.
140. Racism and Xenophobia in Europe,Eurobarometer Opinion Poll no.47.1,First Results presented at the Closing Conference of the European Year Against Racism,Luxemboug,18&19 December 1997.
141. Libération, April 21, 1995 Thursday
142. Ilya Ehrenburg, Faşizm Sonrası Avrupa (Europe After Fascism, translated from Russian to Turkish), Selkan Yayınları, p. 20
143. "General Principles", National Alliance (http://www.natvan.com/what-is-na/na1.html)
144. http://www.natvan.com/what-is-na/na1.html
145. http://www.natvan.com/what-is-na/na1.html
146. "Two Lessons in Racial Survival", National Vanguard Magazine, Number 117 (March-April 1997)
147. Gene Edward Veith, Modern Fascism: Liquidating the Judeo-Christian Worldview, Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, 1993, p. 12