Autonomous nationalists

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Autonomous nationalists on NPD demonstration on October 7, 2006 in Nordhausen

As Autonomous Nationalists (AN) mostly teenagers calling themselves neo-Nazis from the ranks of free fellowships in Germany . Since around 2002 they have consciously drawn on the model of the politically left autonomous movement in their appearance and their forms of action and represent, among other things, anti-Zionist and anti-imperialist argumentation models .

Origin and development

This trend has its origin in 1990, when neo-Nazis from the environment of the National Alternative (NA) occupied a house in Berlin-Lichtenberg and thus particularly conspicuously took over a form of action of the left-wing squatter movement. In the mid-1990s, Christian Worch and Thomas Wulff developed the concept of “Free Comradeships” as a reaction to the bans on several right-wing extremist organizations. These loosely organized, “autonomous” and regionally operating small groups, mostly consisting of no more than 20 to 25 people, became the dominant form of organization of the neo-Nazi scene in the second half of the 1990s, with the members almost exclusively in appearance, clothing, habitus and slogans Image of the right-wing extremist skinhead .

In contrast to this, the “Autonomous Nationalists Berlin” (ANB) emerged for the first time in 2002 as a loose association of activists from the free comradeship scene. They included members of the “ Kameradschaft Tor ”, the “Kameradschaft Pankow” and the “Vereinigte Nationalisten Nordost”, who were initially supported by the Berlin neo-Nazi Oliver Schweigert . They tried to create a threatening backdrop against anti-fascists with a series of stickers and spray-paints, and appeared at neo-Nazi rallies such as the demonstration organized by the NPD on May 1, 2003 in Berlin with their own banner with the inscription " Organize the national black block - Support local anti-anti-fascist groups - defend yourself and fight back - Autonomous Nationalists Berlin ”. The first attempts to also adopt the militant forms of action of the left-wing autonomous scene caused greater awareness, initially only within the extreme right-wing scene. For example, on May 1, 2004 in Berlin and on May 1, 2005 in Leipzig, attempts were made for the first time to form black blocks in the first rows of the neo-Nazi marches and thus to break through the police chains.

Autonomous nationalists in block formation

In the following years individual young neo-Nazis and small groups took over the name and style of the "autonomous nationalists" throughout the Federal Republic of Germany. The focus is on big cities and metropolitan areas, in addition to Berlin in particular the Ruhr area ("Autonomous Nationalists Eastern Ruhr Area", "Autonomous Nationalists Western Ruhr Area", "Autonomous Nationalists Wuppertal / Mettmann", "Autonomous Nationalists Marl") and Munich around the neo-Nazi cadre Hayo Klettenhofer and Philipp Hasselbach .

But there are also individual followers and small groups in smaller towns and even rural areas. In Gera, for example, in December 2004 the “Autonomous Nationalists Gera” took part in the Monday demonstrations against social cuts and went public with their own press releases. After the self-dissolution of the neo-Nazi “ Action Alliance for Central Hesse ” also at the end of 2004, former members in the Marburg area appear as “autonomous nationalists”. At a demonstration in Bützow on February 26, 2005, a group of neo-Nazis from Rostock appeared who traded as “Autonomous Nationalists Rostock” (ANR) with a corresponding banner and typical autonomous outfit. The people here were previously known as " Hatecrew 88 " and made their first appearance in 2003 at the demonstrations organized by Christian Worch in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The leader of " Hatecrew 88 " or the "Autonomous Nationalists Rostock" is a neo-Nazi who moved from North Rhine-Westphalia to Rostock in 2002, who established himself in the Rostock scene immediately after moving there and grouped people around him.

Occur

Uniform clothing and disguise to protect against identification and prosecution

“Autonomous nationalists” are characterized by a direct adoption and transformation of the clothing style and the forms of action of the left-wing radical autonomists. During demonstrations, they appear largely closed in uniform black clothing, consisting of black windbreakers with hoods, hooded sweaters and baseball caps . Often they also wear a so-called Palestinian shawl , which can also serve as a mask . Sometimes black gloves with protectors are worn or demonstratively tucked into the back pockets, which, as in parts of the Autonomous or hooligans , are to be interpreted as a sign of willingness to use violence.

As with the fashionable model of the Autonomous, the items of clothing are studded with buttons and patches on which political slogans or badges are expressed. Often slogans, slogans, layout style and style from the autonomous anti-fascist movement and alternative youth cultures are used and only slightly changed, e.g. B. the logo of the anti-fascist campaign with two black instead of one black and red flag and the words "National Socialists" or "Autonomous Nationalists - Nationwide Action" with reference to the " Antifascist Action / Nationwide Organization " (AA / BO), which was dissolved in 2001 . The logo of anti-fascist hardcore punk followers with the words "Good night - white pride" was also adopted and replaced by the slogan "Good night - left side".

At demonstrations and rallies of the right-wing extremist scene, which are mostly organized by the NPD or Free Comradeships, they form their own groups, which sometimes claim to appear as " black blocks ", which, however, can rarely be redeemed due to the small number of participants. They prefer the front rows and appear with their own banners, which, in turn, appear on the banners of the anti-trust with English-language slogans such as "Fight the system" or "Fuck the law", popular comic characters , bright colors and elaborately designed graffiti- style lettering. Orient movement. Due to the frequent use of Anglicisms and elements of hip-hop culture , they differ significantly from the appearance of the traditional right-wing extremist skinhead and old Nazi scene. In addition, the music from Anarcho Rio Reiser and Ton Steine ​​Scherben was adopted .

Neo-Nazis as Autonomous Nationalists in the Black Block with anti-capitalist and National Socialist slogans

The aim is, on the one hand, to meet the needs of adolescents and young adults with right-wing extremist and neo-Nazi worldviews for a modernized lifestyle and not to correspond to the image of the eternal and the clichés of the “boot Nazi” and “skinhead”. On the other hand, it is the same intentions that were associated with the use of uniform black clothing among the Autonomists. In the call for the May 1st rally it was said: "The black clothing enables us that we can no longer be distinguished and recognized by antifas , cops and others."

Compared to the traditional right-wing extremists, they often show an even more aggressive demeanor towards participants in anti-fascist counter-demonstrations and the police, and justify this with a threat from the state and anti-fascists. For example, the “Autonomous Nationalists Wuppertal / Mettmann” wrote in a self-portrayal that they would “not let themselves be pushed around by this occupation system” . With “right-wing conservative organizations” that would act according to the motto “If someone hits you on the right cheek, turn the other cheek too ” , they don't want to have anything to do with: “Whoever hits us on the right cheek will get it afterwards right and left one! " .

Also, the practice of the autonomous antifa movement, which often focuses on the neo-Nazis as the only opponent - which in turn has been controversial in the autonomous antifa movement for years - has to a certain extent been adopted and led to intense anti-antifa and violent activity Assaults on political opponents. In Berlin, the activists of the ANB are trying to observe left-wing events, collect data from political opponents and intimidate anti-fascists with threats. A leading ANB member had tapped the computer while working at the Friedrichshain / Prenzlauer Berg tax office in order to extract data from police officers and political opponents. In a house search of another ANB member in 2004, numerous names and addresses of alleged anti-fascists and police officers were found. In the meantime, comradeship activists from the environment of the “autonomous nationalists” try with more or less targeted actions to attack their political opponents from the autonomous anti-fascist movement directly. There were attacks on the homes of alleged anti-fascist activists and left-wing youth clubs, attacks on an anti-fascist exhibition and events and (spontaneous) attacks on known anti-fascists. Alternative youth report that neo-Nazis in autonomous outfits ambushed them and attacked them. Other forms of action by the autonomists, such as symbolic squatting, are also copied, combined with the demand for “national youth centers”. In addition to the demonstrations, they are trying to draw public attention to themselves through stickers and spraying.

In April 2008, at a “memorial demonstration” in memory of a young person killed a few days earlier in Stolberg, Rhineland, the “black block” of hooded neo-Nazis was the most massive to date: a block of around 170 “autonomous nationalists” attacked police units and set them on fire Blocked out fireworks and performed with unprecedented brutality. The appearance of the "autonomous nationalists" had not yet been observed nationwide, the police forces also spoke for the first time in a press release of the appearance of "right-wing autonomists" at a demonstration. According to the police, the serious riots on May 1, 2008 in Hamburg-Barmbek were also initiated by Autonomous Nationalists.

Dortmund has developed into a center of this scene in recent years. Here there are regular marches organized by autonomous nationalists from the environment of the “ National Resistance Dortmund ” for the so-called “National Anti-War Day”. On May 1, 2009, a group of 300 to 400 autonomous nationalists also attacked a DGB demonstration .

ideology

This article or the following section is not adequately provided with supporting documents ( e.g. individual evidence ). Information without sufficient evidence could be removed soon. Please help Wikipedia by researching the information and including good evidence.
Many quotations are not documented (and much too detailed). - Carl Novator ( discussion ) 22:56, 23 Jun. 2020 (CEST)
"Autonomous Nationalists" at a neo-Nazi demonstration on May 13, 2006 in Suhl (South Thuringia)

The relationship of the “autonomous nationalists” to the political system of the Federal Republic of Germany as well as to the rest of the right-wing extremist movement was defined in the first call for a demonstration in 2004: “The national revolutionary, black bloc differs not mainly from the other demonstration participants by its appearance, but by the revolutionary ones Content and its actions (blockades, occupations, refusals, etc.): We do not believe that the capitalist system can be reformed or improved - the prevailing system IS the fault and must be replaced by a new, free, just and NATIONAL AND SOCIAL form of society be replaced."

"Autonomous nationalists" see themselves as deliberate provocateurs of the old Nazis and reject their "black-white-red German foolishness" or "1933 romanticism". The aim is a broad infiltration of the youth and a break up of the extreme right-wing subcultural identity of the skinhead scene. This is how the “Autonomous Nationalists Wuppertal / Mettmann” formulated their alternative concept: “We are committed to infiltrating all relevant parts of youth and society and using them for our purposes. It doesn't matter what music you listen to, how long you wear your hair or what clothes you wear. " The well-known neo-Nazi activist Axel Reitz described this strategy: " These 'autonomists' copy the style and presentation of the left structures and who have agitated from the left until now Youth cultures, the well-known symbols and outfits are occupied with our content and interpreted in our sense. ... By means of this appearance there is the possibility, so to speak, unrecognized, because running contrary to the known image of the 'fascist', to penetrate into the areas previously ruled by opposing camps, politically and culturally. Spraying graffiti, being unadapted and 'hip' can not only be the anti-fatzke, but also us, so we can reach a clientele that has remained closed to us until now. "

At the same time, the “autonomous nationalists” cling to the National Socialist ideology and propagate racism , anti-Semitism and nationalism . Following their own stylization, the “Autonomous Nationalists” ideologically tie in with the “left wing” of the NSDAP , represented by Gottfried Feder and Otto and Gregor Strasser . A special group (extremely controversial within the comradeship), the “National Socialists for Israel” (“NaSofI”), extends the ethnopluralist concept to Israel as well: on the one hand, they affirm Israel's right to exist and allegedly oppose anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism , represented on the other hand according to this concept however, the view that the “place” for people of the Jewish faith is not in Germany, but in Israel. They, too, fundamentally propagate the right to “acts of self-defense” when “peoples settle in”; in the case of the Jews during the Nazi era it would have been better, in their opinion, if instead of the, in their usage, “so-called ' Holocaust ' ” would have promoted Zionist organizations for the purpose of emigration of Jews to Palestine. The Jews in the Diaspora , who, according to NaSofI, had always “ preserved their ethnic identity”, had no choice but to “move” to another nation.

It is particularly difficult for them to fill the term autonomously in terms of content. Reitz answered the question “Why 'Autonomous Nationalists' at all?'” In the neo-Nazi Internet forum “Free Resistance” at the end of 2004 initially only with a brief “What are 'autonomous nationalists', independent nationalists, point, off, end, that's it.” At the same point, Christian Worch defined the term “autonomous” as an emergency solution, since several “free nationalists” had meanwhile become members of the NPD and the term “free” would therefore be watered down. In July 2005 Reitz said: "National autonomy is first and foremost a term and depending on the apologist for this superficial word construct it is defined differently (...) No one can give you a binding definition of the term (...) "

Relationship to the right-wing extremist scene and NPD

Clenched fists for a show of power

The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution stated in the 2007 report for the Protection of the Constitution:

“After the“ Autonomous Nationalists ”had been isolated within the right-wing extremist spectrum - even within the neo-Nazi scene - in previous years, there was a change in 2007: in connection with a“ delimitation decision ”by the party presidium of the“ National Democratic Party of Germany ”(NPD) against the“ Autonomous Nationalists ”declared the majority of the German neo-Nazi scene in August 2007 in solidarity with the“ Autonomous Nationalists ”. This can be seen as an indication of the trend's increased reputation within the scene. "

- Report on the Protection of the Constitution 2007, p. 58

The presidium of the NPD is divided and tries to demarcate itself with slogans such as “Our flags are black - our blocs not”. Above all, the “phenomena known only from left-wing extremist / anti-fascist demonstrations” are criticized and they are opposed to “anarchist manifestations ". While the party chairman Udo Voigt initially distanced himself with the words that one should not “buy the claim to want to appear modern and revolutionary by imitating the appearance and clothing of the old-fashioned Antifa”, he last greeted the NPD at a party congress “ expressly the representatives of the black bloc ”and added that one cannot be“ divided up by the media, not by agitation ”. At the national party congress of the NPD in 2008 Voigt criticized bonds in the left-wing scene, such as the “clenched communist fist” or “foreign symbols and sayings”, while Thomas Wulff and the late Jürgen Rieger did not shy away from the society of autonomous nationalists. Dennis Giemsch , one of the leading figures in the free comradeship in North Rhine-Westphalia, described the AN's relationship with the NPD in 2011 as follows: "I wish the NPD the best of luck on their way, but we don't believe in democracy."

Berlin is an exception. According to the Berlin Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the relationship between the NPD and the Autonomous Nationalists is close and trusting . The Autonomous Nationalists are "not insignificantly involved in the revitalization of the national association of the NPD and the rebuilding of its youth organization JN".

As a gathering of leading autonomous nationalists has since about 2012, founded by Worch Minor party rights established. After the Dortmund National Resistance Association was banned , leading neo-Nazi cadres of the comradeship scene such as Siegfried Borchardt or Dennis Giemsch reorganized themselves.

See also

literature

  • Jan Schedler, Alexander Häusler: Autonomous nationalists: neo-Nazis in a new guise . VS Verlag, 2010
  • Christoph Schulze: Label fraud: The autonomous nationalists between pop and anti-modern. Tectum Verlag, 2017, ISBN 978-3-8288-3822-2 .
  • Michael Klarmann: National Socialism is extremely modern. The Autonomous Nationalists . In: Richard Gebhardt, Dominik Clemens (Ed.): Volksgemeinschaft instead of capitalism? On the social demagogy of the neo-Nazis . Papyrossa, Cologne 2009, ISBN 978-3-89438-408-1 , pp. 90-113.
  • Jan Schedler: Taking over the aesthetics and forms of action of the radical left - on the positioning of the “autonomous nationalists” in the extreme right-wing strategy spectrum . In: Stephan Braun et al. (Ed.): Strategies of the extreme right. Background - analyzes - answers . VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden 2009, ISBN 978-3-531-15911-9 , pp. 318–343.
  • Rainer Brahms: More than a marginal phenomenon. Modern style, old content . In: Lotta No. 31, 2008, ISSN  1865-9632 , pp. 8–11 ( available as PDF ).
  • Christian Menhorn: Autonomous Nationalists . In: Uwe Backes , Eckhard Jesse (Ed.): Yearbook Extremism and Democracy 2007 . 19th year. Nomos Verlag, Baden-Baden 2008, ISBN 3-8329-3168-6 , pp. 213-225.
  • Jürgen Peters, Christoph Schulze (Ed.): “Autonomous Nationalists”. The modernization of neo-fascist youth culture . Unrast Verlag, Münster 2009, ISBN 978-3-89771-101-3 ( Unrast transparent - right edge ).
  • Karsten Dustin Hoffmann: Autonomous Nationalists. The black bloc at right-wing extremist demonstrations . In: Polizeispiegel 6, 2008, ISSN  1437-9864 , pp. 19-24 ( available as PDF ).
  • Andreas Klärner: Attempt and failure of a tactical civilization of the extreme right. The conflict between NPD, “Free Comradeships” and “Autonomous Nationalists” . In: Newsletter on the history and impact of the Holocaust - information from the Fritz Bauer Institute . 17th volume, no. 33, autumn 2008, ISSN  1617-6995 , pp. 16-21 ( available as PDF ).
  • Alexander Häusler , Jan Schedler : Neo-Nazism in Motion: Locating the 'Autonomous Nationalists' in Social Science Movement Research Neo-Nazism in Motion , VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden 2011, ISBN 978-3-531-93219-4 .
  • Christian Faludi: Ethnopluralism for advanced students - The "National Socialists for Israel", in: Tribüne - Journal for Understanding Judaism 190 (2009), pp. 89–97.
  • Martin Thein : Race against the zeitgeist - neo-Nazism in transition. Cuvillier Verlag, Göttingen 2009, ISBN 978-3-86727-686-3

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Constitutional Protection Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania: Annual Report 2005 ( Memento of the original from March 9, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 791 kB) p. 38  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.verfassungsschutz-mv.de
  2. ↑ http://klarmann.blogsport.de/2008/04/06/rechts-junger-rechtsextremist-bei-messersteicherei-in-stolberg-getoetet/
  3. ↑ Netzeitung: "Naked violence emanated from the right" ( Memento from May 3, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ↑ Netzeitung: "Neo-Nazis attack DGB rally"
  5. ↑ Edge zone: Articles on politics, economy and society  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / randzone.nickscafe.de  
  6. ↑ Matthias Brodkorb: "Confusion on all fronts: Do the 'National Socialists for Israel' (NaSofI) really exist?" Blog.zeit.de, May 21, 2008
  7. ↑ Constitutional Protection Report 2007 of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, p. 58  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.verfassungsschutz.de  
  8. ^ Spiegel Online: Black neo-Nazi bloc alarms police and politics
  9. ↑ Spiegel Online: Rieger wins power struggle on the open stage
  10. ↑ Telepolis: NPD continues towards militancy from May 26, 2008
  11. ^ Olaf Sundermeyer; Claudia Luzar; Dierk Borstel: Right-wing extremist structures in Dortmund . Formations and recent developments an update 2011. In: City of Dortmund (Hrsg.): Dortmunder action plan against right-wing extremism . Dortmund 2011, p. 19 .
  12. ↑ Situation analysis of the Autonomous Nationalists in Berlin  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.berlin.de  
  13. ↑ Tomas Sager: Braune Kader under a different label. In: look to the right. January 21, 2013, accessed February 23, 2013 .