Hammerskins

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Two crossed hammers on a gear wheel as the logo of the Hammerskins

The Hammerskins (also Hammerskin Nation ) (HSN) are a neo-Nazi association founded in 1986 by Wollin Lange and Scan Tarret in Dallas , Texas . There are now offshoots of it in various countries.

Beginnings

The association initially spread across the North American continent. It has a high level of organization and sees itself as the elite of the Naziskins . The Hammerskins have “divisions” in many countries around the world, including the USA , Canada , England , France , Germany , the Netherlands , Switzerland , Spain , Portugal , Hungary , New Zealand and Australia . The record label Free Your Minds Records is closely connected to the Hammerskins, who are particularly active in organizing right-wing rock concerts with international bands, including in Germany in recent years. They are divided into individual "chapters" below the federal organization, e.g. B. "Brandenburg Chapter". There are always international meetings called "Hammerfest".

The logo of the Hammerskins, two carpenter's hammers as a symbol, is based on the symbolism of Thor . The logo of the fictional fascists from the movie The Wall was adopted by Pink Floyd . The logo is intended to clarify the harmony with the Nordic gods and the origin of the "Nordic race", at the same time the roots of the anti-racist skinhead movement, which lie in the British working class, are to be shown and appropriated for the movement of the Hammerskins.

ideology

Their motto is "Hammerskins forever, forever Hammerskins" (abbreviated to "HFFH"). The organization is close to the White Power Movement, so it particularly emphasizes ideas of the “purity of race” and idealizes ideas of warrior and masculinity, which it draws from “historical” models such as the Aryans , the Vikings and the National Socialists . Since the Hammerskins see themselves as an elitist brotherhood, potential members are subjected to a special selection process and undesired people - e.g. B. Alcoholics , "crazy people", "mouth heroes" - excluded (in advance).

Crew 38

Crew 38 is an internal support network of the Hammerskins, the number 38 stands for the letters C and H, the abbreviation for "Crossed Hammers" - based on the Hammerskins logo. For example, the network supports Hammerskins who have come into conflict with the judiciary. The label "Crew 38" appears in many countries in which the HSN is organized.

United States

In 2000, the Hammerskin Nation website listed 19 chapters spread across the United States of America (USA). There are also direct links to bands here. For example, Ed Wolbank, musician with the band Bound for Glory , was for a time the leader of the Hammerskins in Saint Paul, Minnesota .

In the USA, many acts of violence were committed with a right-wing extremist and racist background. In 1988, for example, a nightclub in Tulsa was attacked by Hammerskins and its non-white owners were killed. In June 1991, killing Arlington ( Texas ) three members of the Hammer Skins the African American Donald Thomas. In the same year in Birmingham ( Alabama a homeless man of Hammer Skins killed at Christmas). In 1993, two girls were attacked by Hammerskins in Massachusetts . In 1999, young African American Randy Bowen was attacked and seriously injured by six Hammerskins near California . In 2012, six people were shot dead by a member of the Hammerskins in a Sikh temple in Wisconsin .

Germany

The existence of Hammerskins in Germany has been known since 1991. In the course of the investigation into the National Socialist Underground , the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) prepared a 20-page analysis of Hammerskins in Germany. The "Hammerskin Division Germany", which sometimes works closely with established right-wing extremist structures, has 193 members and sympathizers. According to the BKA, there are eleven regional chapters in Germany. The Westmark chapter and the Bremen , Saxony and Bavaria chapters are the most active . Endstation Rechts Bayern reported that there are said to have already been events of the Free Network South and Hammerskins in Oberprex ( Regnitzlosau ) .

The fanzines "Hammerskin", "Wehre dich" and "Hass Attacke" were or will be published by German Hammerskins. After the Blood & Honor Division in Germany was banned , Hammerskins are increasingly trying to establish themselves in the market for right-wing extremist music and concert organization, but there are also jointly organized concerts. Various bands with names such as Hetzjagd , Frontalkraft or Deutsch Stolz Treue were also assigned to the Hammerskins in the analysis. In Bremen the "Hammerskin-Section Bremen" was grouped around the band final stage .

In the course of the trial against the right-wing extremist band Landser , the undercover agent and Hammerskin Mirko Hesse, who was involved in the distribution and production of a CD ( Ran an den Feind ) for the band, was exposed . He was sentenced to four years' imprisonment for involvement in sales and possession of illegal weapons.

The “Thinghaus” in Grevesmühlen , built by NPD member Sven Krüger , served at times as a meeting place for Hammerskins. In August 2011, for example, a conspiratorial solidarity concert for Krüger took place, at which 200 visitors from the vicinity of the banned Hammerskins were present.

In addition, the neo-Nazi Thomas Gerlach is said to have illegally procured weapons for Hammerskins in Portugal.

In February 2013, a “national officers meeting” took place in the Werlaburgdorf community ( Wolfenbüttel district ), at which 30 Hammerskins management cadres met.

The groups “Voice of Anger” from Memmingen and Kempten (Allgäu) and “Hate Crew Swabia” also have similarities with the Hammerskin structure .

In May 2013, a concert took place in Nienhagen, Saxony-Anhalt, to which many Hammerskins and their related groups traveled.

Movies

  • Skin or die. - A report about the Hammerskins - white racists of the skinhead movement. Switzerland 1998. 56 min., Color, VHS. Script and direction: Daniel Schweizer.
  • Skin - A 2018 film drama directed by Guy Nattiv.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The Hammerskin Nation ( Memento from September 21, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) archive.adl.org
  2. ↑ Conspiratorial structures - "Hammerskins" with connections to the NPD? endstation-rechts.de of July 4, 2011
  3. ↑ Hammerskin Most Violent Neo Nazi Skin Head Group In US-See Pictures ( Memento from March 5, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) guardianexpressla.com from August 7, 2012
  4. ↑ Europe's neo-Nazis celebrate themselves fr-online.de from November 4, 2012
  5. ↑ Wisconsin Sikh temple shooting suspect's tattoos tell the tale of his white supremacist affiliations nydailynews.com of August 8, 2012
  6. ^ A "hiking club" full of bald heads ( memento from January 26, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) fr-online.de from January 29, 2013
  7. ^ A b "The underground neo-Nazis" zeit.de from February 1, 2013
  8. ^ Activities of the right-wing scene in Upper Franconia endstation-rechts-bayern.de
  9. ^ "Hunting on the stage" taz.de of January 11, 2013
  10. ↑ Alexander Fichtner, Annelies Senf: Rechtsrock. Panzerfaust on the ear. haGalil , August 8, 2003, accessed December 19, 2010 .
  11. ↑ "The amazing career of Nazi V's Mirko H." berliner-zeitung.de of 3 November 2003
  12. ^ "Grevesmühlen is the fortress of the extremists", Abendblatt.de of August 29, 2011
  13. ↑ "Freedom for Sven Krüger" - Hammerskins and NPD at a solo concert. Right end of the line , August 1, 2011, accessed on September 11, 2012 .
  14. ↑ “Neo-Nazis in the best possible way networked internationally” fr-online.de from February 19, 2013
  15. ^ "Hammerskins" in the Wolfenbüttel district ( Memento from February 28, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) ndr.de from February 23, 2013
  16. ↑ "Voice of Anger" in the Krumbach area active augsburger-allgemeine.de of April 18, 2013
  17. ^ "Police smash right-wing extremist group" augsburger-allgemeine.de of January 29, 2009
  18. ^ "Brown music event in a row" endstation-rechts.de from May 28, 2013