Popular extra-parliamentary opposition

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The People's Loyal Extra-Parliamentary Opposition ( VAPO ) was a militant Austrian neo-Nazi group that became known from 1986 to the beginning / mid-1990s primarily for its “ military sports exercises ”.

history

VAPO was founded in 1986 by Gottfried Küssel and described in the VAPO publication Die Sturmfahne as follows:

The VAPO is the fundamental national opposition . It is not an organization in the traditional sense, but a loose fighting community of national groups and people. [...] Since there are no lists of members, no responsible persons have to be determined and no forms of organization and administrative channels have to be observed, access by authorities is very difficult, indeed made almost impossible.

In subsequent years, the VAPO established in some cities fellowships and led rallies in St. Pölten and Linz through. In addition, together with the comradeship Langenlois, "military sports exercises" were carried out, during which, according to Christa Zöchling, the beating and defeating of "representatives of the hated system", leftists, communists and foreigners were practiced. Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache ( FPÖ ), who was in office from 2017 to 2019, and Andreas Reichhardt (FPÖ), who was General Secretary in the Ministry of Infrastructure in 2018/19 , took part in at least one of these military sports exercises organized by Küssel . In addition to these activities, VAPO also took part in the annual Rudolf Hess memorial marches .

In the course of the letter bomb affair in the early / mid-1990s, the VAPO was smashed by the police and some members, including the VAPO chairman Gottfried Küssel, were sentenced to several years' imprisonment for re-activating the Nazis .

ideology

The ideology of the VAPO and its members was strongly oriented towards National Socialism and aimed at the "re-establishment of the NSDAP " and the "renewed seizure of power " in Austria.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ People loyal to the extra-parliamentary opposition (VAPO) , article of the DÖW
  2. ↑ Die Sturmfahne, circular from all VAPO activists , January 1987, p. 7
  3. ↑ Austria's neo-Nazi scene  ( 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. , FM4 article dated January 31, 2007@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / fm4.orf.at  
  4. ↑ Heinz-Christian Strache at military sports exercise with Gottfried Küssel , Zeit im Bild - contribution from March 24, 2009
  5. ^ The Strache file , Süddeutsche Zeitung article from October 10, 2017
  6. ↑ Comrades have a career  ( page can no longer be accessed , 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. , Profile (Journal) article dated December 21, 2017@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.profil.at  
  7. ↑ The FPÖ Club's press officer had contact with neo-Nazis in the 1990s , Der Standard article of December 21, 2017