ANTIFA INFO-BULLETIN, Number 160
Tom Burghardt
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|| * -- SUPPLEMENT -- * April 19, 1998 * -- SUPPLEMENT -- * ||
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CONTENTS: Supplement 160
_____
1. (MST) MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE: Violence Erupts at
Neo-Nazis' News Conference
2. (AFNS) AFRIKAN FRONTLINE NEWS SERVICE: Solitary
Confinement for 25 Years - Support Herman
Wallace and Albert Woodfox!
3. (ARA) ANTI-RACIST ACTION [Kingston]: Police Harass
Anti-Racists at Benefit Concert in Kingston,
Ontario
4. (CANF) CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE NATIONAL FRONT [UK]: Anti-
Fascist Update
5. (SFLR) SAN FRANCISCO LIBERATION RADIO: Comedy & Satire
6. (NEX) THE NAZISM EXPOSED PROJECT: Norwegian Neo-Nazis
Fined in Sweden
7. (IND) THE INDEPENDENT [London]: Far-Right Returns with
a Violence Agenda [BNP Election Campaign]
8. (AP) ASSOCIATED PRESS: Austrian Rightist Enjoying
Growing Popularity
9. (TT) THE TIMES [London]: Himmler's Daughter Helps Ex-
SS Men
10. (SFE) SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER: KKK Delivers Hate to the
Door
11. (MAJ) MUMIA ABU-JAMAL: The Second Coming
* * *
_________________________________________________________________
VIOLENCE ERUPTS AT NEO-NAZIS' NEWS CONFERENCE
_________________________________________________________________
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Sunday, April 19, 1998
Chris Graves, Star Tribune
http://www.startribune.com/
Neo-Nazis who had called a news conference Saturday in St.
Paul to protest what they called suppression of free speech and
assembly couldn't get a word in edgewise and were run off by
spitting, rock-throwing, profanity-yelling protesters.
The violence erupted almost immediately as 11 members of a
group calling itself the National Socialist Movement, clad in
Nazi-era brown shirts and red swastika armbands and carrying Nazi
flags, were met by nearly twice as many protesters outside the
Federal Courthouse in St. Paul.
It ended one hour, two arrests, several minor injuries and
several busted-out car windows later.
Members of neo-Nazi groups had scheduled a "national white
unity" meeting to begin Saturday in the Twin Cities. That effort
stalled last week after the group was kicked out of a Golden
Valley hotel after misrepresenting themselves.
On Saturday, news organization were informed of the time and
place of the news conference at the last minute in part to avoid
protesters. Earlier Saturday, 50 protesters assembled at a park
in south Minneapolis.
The neo-Nazi meeting was to host several leaders of Nazi-
influenced and white supremacy groups, including Tom Metzger,
Robert Brannen and Jeff Schoep. Metzger, of California, is the
founder and leader of the White Aryan Resistance. Brannen is the
founder of the National Socialist Movement. Schoep heads the
local chapter of the National Socialist Movement.
A message tape-recorded by the local National Socialist
Movement vowed to meet and asked participants to leave their name
and phone number.
Three carloads of group members checked out of a South St.
Paul motel about 15 minutes before Saturday's noon news
conference, said Jovita Goebel, desk clerk at the Golden Steer
Motel.
Schoep and a man registered as William Neal, from Texas,
checked out of two rooms, each of which had been rented for three
days.
"They said there might have some trouble here, and they were
just going to leave," said Goebel, who said she received no
complaints. "They said they didn't want to bring any trouble
here."
She said she saw three cars leave, one with its back window
shattered. Many of the men and one woman wore swastika armbands
and "combat boots."
As that group prepared for the news conference in a parking
lot about a block from the courthouse, at least two or three
carloads from groups that espouse leftist and anarchist leanings
were driving from the Minneapolis park to downtown St. Paul.
It was unclear how the protesters learned of the news
conference. "We have our ways," said a woman who said her name
was Michelle Gross, a 40-year-old nurse who carried a large bag
of first-aid supplies and treated protesters hurt in two brawls.
She said she was a member of Refuse and Resist, a New York-based
group that bills itself as opposing all forms of repression.
Members of the local chapter of Anti-Racist Action also
protested. On its Website, the Minneapolis chapter of the group
says it is a "network of youth-based antiracist groups across
North American dedicated to fighting all forms of racism. We
believe the only way racism is gonna get smashed is by doing it
ourselves. So we [are] not about relying on the courts or the
cops."
They carried banners that denounced racism; one read, "The
only good fascist is a dead one."
As the neo-Nazi group approached the courthouse, the
protesters ran up to them, repeatedly yelling: "No Nazis! No KKK!
No fascist U.S.!"
A neo-Nazi members tried to yell over the chants and
countered: "You see, these are the troublemakers -- we came here
for a peaceful rally; we came to speak -- not for this."
At one point, the 11 gave the fascist salute and yelled,
"Sieg heil!" But they were drowned out by the protesters, many of
whom threw rocks at the neo-Nazis. Others spit on them; still
others grabbed the Nazi flags.
Both sides used the flagpoles as weapons or defensive
shields during the melee, which lasted a couple of minutes before
the neo-Nazis ran around the side of the courthouse, up the
street and into a parking lot.
The protesters used chains, the flagpoles, their hands and
feet to smash out the front, back and side windows of the
neo-Nazis' car, which had Ohio plates.
The car sped off as a protester called on the others to
leave before police arrived.
St. Paul Police Lt. Richard Iffert said authorities were not
notified of the news conference, and arrived only after receiving
a 911 call. Several squad cars arrived after the two sides
dispersed; officers questioned reporters who had witnessed the
violence.
Police were standing by about 30 minutes later as a second
wave of protesters arrived and clashed with three men and two
women, all from South St. Paul, who showed up late to support the
neo-Nazis.
Jason Callahan said he and his brother, Shannon, met with
the neo-Nazis Friday night and were asked to attend the news
conference. "We're not part of any organization. I'm white. And,
they said, they needed white people," Callahan said.
By the time they arrived at the courthouse, they were
outnumbered 10-1. At least 50 demonstrators yelled profanities,
spat at the neo-Nazis, and engaged in ideological screaming
matches.
Shannon Callahan was arrested after he allegedly punched a
demonstrator, Daniel Lansing, 27, in the mouth and knocked his
two front teeth out of their sockets. After Lansing was released
from the hospital, police arrested him for allegedly inciting a
riot.
Copyright 1998 Star Tribune. All rights Reserved.
*****
* AFRIKAN FRONTLINE NEWS SERVICE *
Web: http://afrikan.net
E-mail: natt...@ix.netcom.com
- Tuesday, 14 April 1998 -
-----
_________________________________________________________________
SOLITARY CONFINEMENT FOR 25 YEARS:
SUPPORT HERMAN WALLACE AND ALBERT WOODFOX!
_________________________________________________________________
*
Remember Remember Remember
The Longest Political Prisoners to be held in Solitary
Confinement 25 years, Herman Wallace and Albert Woodfox joined
the Black Panther Party in 1971 while incarcerated in the New
Orleans Parish Prison. They became the leading organizers in
Louisiana State Penitentiary for Prisoner's Rights.
In April of 1972, a peaceful demonstration was held in
Angola which centered around slave-like working conditions and
brutal treatment of prisoners by guards (at that time many of
these prison guards were also prisoners, who were allowed by
officials to carry guns and bats/clubs). This peaceful work
stoppage was crushed and in the aftermath Brent Miller, a guard,
was killed. His body was found in one of the many prison
dormitories. The next day, after a night of torture, four
prisoners were singled out and charged with his death. They were
Chester Jackson, Gilbert Montegut, Herman Wallace and Albert
Woodfox, the Angola Four. Tried separately, the first to be
tried, Gilbert, was found not guilty of all charges. With the
intervention of the FBI, Chester Jackson pleaded guilty to a
lesser charge and turned state witness against Herman Wallace and
Albert Woolfox. Based upon the testimony of paid informers, these
two members of the Panther Party were convicted and sentenced to
Life Imprisonment.
To this day, after 25 years of confinement, they remain on
23 hour a day lockdown. Now after many court battles filed by
these forgotten political prisoners, their convictions have been
overturned and they have been granted a new trial.
Write to:
Herman Wallace, #76759
CCR-Units-Upper A-15
Louisiana State Penitentiary
Angola, Louisiana 70712
Albert Woodfox (B-1)
P.O. Box 250
Amite, Louisiana 70422
REMEMBER
Support These True Political Warriors
For More information on what you can do, write or call:
National People's Campaign
2489 Mission Street, Suite 28
San Francisco, CA 94110
Tel: 415-821-6545
Fax: 821-5782
FREE THE ANGOLA TWO!
FREE HERMAN WALLACE & ALBERT WOODFOX!
*****
* ANTI-RACIST ACTION - KINGSTON *
P.O. Box 461
Kingston, Ontario
K7L 4W5, Canada
E-mail: araki...@hotmail.com
- Thursday, 16 April 1998 -
-----
_________________________________________________________________
POLICE HARASS ANTI-RACISTS AT BENEFIT CONCERT
IN KINGSTON, ONTARIO
_________________________________________________________________
ARA Press Release
Please Distribute Widely
*
Two undercover Kingston police officers came to the Rock
Against Racism show on Saturday April 11. They first arrived at
9:30pm, and refused to pay the $5.00 admission, stating that as
police officers they should have free access. After the person in
charge of admission insisted, one police officer paid the fee
while the other officer continued to refuse. They asked
organizers about the name of the band that was currently playing,
and stated that they would return later to "observe" the headline
Montreal Oi! band: 'The Street Troopers'. At no time did they
show any identification, and organizers were left wondering if
indeed they were police officers, or if they were Heritage Front
sympathizers.
The Street Troopers were featured in an interview on the
front of the Kingston Whig Standard Entertainment section on
Thursday April 9th, and the article prominently displayed a
picture of the band and the artwork on their album cover. The
picture on the album cover is of a riot cop wearing a patch that
reads: "TO SERVE AND PROTECT THE RICH".
The two, as yet unidentified, undercover police officers
returned at 12:00am and immediately searched an individual on the
pretext that he might possess marijuana. It should be noted that
alcohol and drugs were not permitted at the concert and the
organizers had their own security throughout the entire show in
order to maintain a safe, friendly environment. One officer was
heard telling the youth: "Don't give me any shit!" and "I know
you have something you little prick". The youth was a Montreal
Francophone who spoke very little English, and the officer made
no attempt to communicate with him in French. The officer
proceeded to frisk the unfortunate youth until satisfied. The
officer had not identified himself or provided any identification
to the youth, who afterwards told organizers he had not even
realized the man was a cop.
At the same time that the youth was being harassed, the
other officer was asking organizers inside about the location of
the Street Troopers. When informed that the concert was over and
that the Street Troopers had already exited the venue, the
officer said "Bullshit!" and rushed outside in an attempt to find
them.
The officers then approached one band member on the pretense
of "showing him a picture" and led him around the block to their
vehicle. The other band members and the organizers, concerned for
the safety of their friend, followed the officers to their
vehicle and demanded to see their identification. The officers
stated that: "We don't have to show you anything". After the
group insisted that it was their right, they agreed and presented
their badges.
The police had seen the band's picture in the Kingston Whig
Standard interview, and had searched the mug shot book for any
skinhead who looked vaguely like a band member and shared a
common first name. The officers asked the band members where the
individual in the picture was hiding and why he was not present
at the concert. The Street Troopers repeated that they did not
know the person in the mug shot and that no one in the band
resembled him.
Unless the police regularly search for criminals on the
entertainment page it seems that this band was singled out. Why?
Was it because they are critical of the proliferation of racism
and brutality within Canada's law enforcement agencies? Or was it
because they are associated with Anti-Racist Action (a group
known to be disliked by police for its aggressive opposition to
Nazis)? Or was it just because they were the headline act at an
anti-racism benefit concert?
Only the Kingston police officers can tell you what their
motive was. When it turned out that the mug shot was not the
picture of a Street Trooper, the officer said: "I guess I lost a
bet tonight."
When police officers start betting amongst themselves
whether or not they will succeed in arresting a supporter of an
anti-racism benefit concert, then it is clearly a case of
selective policing. The surly, hostile attitudes of the officers
that night, combined with the searches and threats that youths
received outside the venue, leads one to question whether the
Kingston Police Force is currently engaged in a plan to dissuade
anti-racists from meeting and promoting anti-racist, feminist and
gay positive views.
Source: People Against Racist Terror, mnovi...@igc.org
*****
* CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE NATIONAL FRONT *
DOVER, UK
Tel: (01303) 262039
E-mail: Crai...@aol.com
Web: http://www.canterbury.u-net.com/Dover.html
- Friday, 17 April 1998 -
-----
_________________________________________________________________
ANTI-FASCIST UPDATE
_________________________________________________________________
Source: d...@canterbury.u-net.com
*
1) One of the anti-fascists arrested at the National Front
march in Dover on 28th February was today informed by the police
that no charges would be brought against her. Gill Emerson was
one of four people who had been arrested and released on bail
pending further enquiries. The police had previously boasted to
her that they had more than enough evidence to convict her; "just
wait till you see the video we've got of you", she was told.
This news comes less than two weeks after the broadcasting
of a documentary by ITV's "World in Action" which revealed that
the police had turned a blind eye to several crimes involving the
neo-Nazi Charlie Sargent, because he was spying on Ulster
loyalists on behalf of the police.* One such crime was the
firebombing of Gill Emerson's house in 1995. The decision not to
prosecute Gill means that the police have very conveniently
avoided any chance of this embarrassing subject being brought up
in open court.
2) Liberty (the National Council for Civil Liberties) has
offered us legal help in making formal complaints against the
police for their conduct during the anti-NF demonstrations in
Dover.
3) There will be a campaign meeting in Dover on Monday 20th
April at 7:30pm. Further details are available from Craig Hudson:
tel.: (01303) 262039; e-mail: <Crai...@aol.com>.
4) We have heard that there will be a National Front march
in Central London on Saturday 23rd May, assembling at 1pm near
Westminster Abbey. The march is apparently to protest against the
Northern Ireland peace agreement. We will pass on counter-
demonstration details as soon as they are available.
* AFIB EDITOR'S NOTE: See Antifa Info-Bulletin, Supplement 158,
April 5, 1998: The Observer, Police Kept Neo-Nazi on
Payroll, http://burn.ucsd.edu/~aff/afib.html
*****
* SAN FRANCISCO LIBERATION RADIO - 93.7 FM *
750 La Playa #852
San Francisco, CA 94121
Tel: (415) 750-1714
E-mail: sf...@slip.net
Web: http://www.slip.net/~dove
- Wednesday, 15 April 1998 -
-----
_________________________________________________________________
COMEDY & SATIRE
_________________________________________________________________
*
"The April Fools" -- Piercing satire on the people that
"own" the airwaves. Available Now:
The Jolly Roger Comedy Troupe is proud to present The April
Fools, its 1998 "salute" to the National Association of
Broadcasters (those purveyors of the famed vast wasteland). This
esteemed organization, which held its annual convention in Las
Vegas last week, boosted its reputation several orders of
magnitude by inducting Rush Limbaugh into its Hall of Shame --
oops, Fame.
The April Fools is availabe to download at the A-Infos Radio
Project: http://radio4all.web.net
You can also order a tape by mail from the SF Liberation
Radio Website: http://www.slip.net/~dove
*****
* THE NAZISM EXPOSED PROJECT *
Web: http://www.ekran.no/html/nazismexposed/
E-mail: pa...@ekran.no
- Friday, 17 April 1998 -
-----
_________________________________________________________________
NORWEGIAN NEO-NAZIS FINED IN SWEDEN
_________________________________________________________________
*
Two Norwegian neo-Nazis were fined in a local court in
Stromstad, Sweden, for attempted smuggling of hand-weapons. The
two Norwegians were caught and expelled from Sweden in January
this year by Swedish police.
They had been recognized as participants in a Nazi-concert
held earlier in Stromstad, and the police expelled them on the
basis that they were likely to commit crimes in Sweden.
The police found nunchakus and gloves coated with lead in
the car they were driving. The youth explained that they were on
the way to a party in Stockholm, and that the weapons were
intended to only be used in self-defence.
The court classified the nunchakus and the lead gloves as
weapons intended for close-combat. These kind of weapons are
forbidden in Sweden. One of the Norwegians was also sentenced for
driving without a driving license.
The two neo-Nazis were not present in court.
Source: Nettavisen - http://www.nettavisen.no/
*****
_________________________________________________________________
FAR-RIGHT RETURNS WITH A VIOLENCE AGENDA
_________________________________________________________________
THE INDEPENDENT
MONDAY, 13 APRIL 1998
http://www.independent.co.uk/stories/A1304814.html
BNP is stoking up racism in a London Docklands by-election.
Ian Burrell reports
The spring bunting is out on the Isle of Dogs. The
appearance of Union flags hanging from the balconies and tower
block windows is a signal that local elections are once more
pending in Millwall.
The ward where Derek Beackon became the first British
National Party councillor four years ago, is once again the focus
for the far-right's attempts to fuel racial disharmony. The BNP
is basing its new campaign on a claim that the white community in
east London is being terrorised by gangs of Asian youths in what
it recklessly describes as "something near to civil war".
In particular, the party has sought to capitalise on an
horrific attack on a 14-year-old Maltese boy by a large gang of
young Asians. Paul Sammut was badly beaten and one of his fingers
almost severed by a knife wound in February. The incident brought
angry protests from a section of the white community who claimed
the police were slow to respond.
The victim's father, also called Paul, said the attack would
generate votes for the BNP. "I think everyone will be behind them
more than 100 per cent," he said, adding that he personally was
not interested in politics and would not vote for the BNP. "We
have totally had enough of it. We want rights for ourselves," he
explained.
The Bengali community on the island later helped police with
their inquiries and eight youths have been charged in connection
with the incident. But a fortnight ago, up to 200 Asian
youngsters from different gangs clashed with baseball bats,
knives and machetes at nearby Poplar Park, east London. Three
youths were taken to hospital and, although none of the victims
was white, the incident provided more political capital for the
far-right.
Edwin Lewis, who runs the multicultural St Andrews Youth
Project on the island, admits: "At the moment, the BNP don't have
to do any work because the kids are doing it for them." He said
the BNP had adopted more subtle electioneering tactics. "They
have realised that the mob rule and shaven-headed approach didn't
work," he said.
Yet, despite concerns over some isolated yet serious
incidents, race relations on the Isle of Dogs are clearly
improving. Curtis Francois, 35, a black council caretaker,
recalled: "This area used to be a no-go area. It was sprayed on
the walls 'Isle of Dogs for whites only'. Things have definitely
quietened down."
Marianna Norris, mixed race and 26, looks out at the union
flags from the kitchen of her eighth-floor flat. Another flag
hangs in the window next door. But as a race harassment worker
for Victim Support she has not seen an increase in racially
motivated attacks.
"We have not had many incidents and things do seem to be
getting better," she said. "I cannot see the BNP getting in
because the ethnic community is starting to speak up and they
will now go out and vote."
People who have moved on to the island more recently seemed
to be unaware of its far-right connections. Michael Alford, 58, a
ship's purser, asked: "BNP?, which is?" He said that he would be
voting Labour.
In 1994, the election of Mr Beackon was at least effective
in putting a community that had felt forgotten into the limelight
of national interest. But the shock card has been played and
former BNP voters said they now felt the party could do little to
improve their living conditions.
Jason Wright, 20, out walking his pit bull, should be prime
BNP material. Having voted for the far-right party in the past he
regards the ruling Labour council as "a load of crap". Yet, he
said: "This election, I can't really be bothered. Nothing is
going to change."
On the doorsteps, however, some Labour canvassers have been
concerned that BNP supporters have been less coy about
identifying themselves than in the past. Living in the shadow of
the Canary Wharf tower, the people of the Isle of Dogs are made
only too well aware of their economic disadvantage.
Tower Hamlets council argues that in six months it has
helped to find jobs for 600 local people amid the waterside
restaurants, financial institutions and designer clothing outlets
of the booming complex. But many locals are unhappy with the new
landscape. There are concerns that a proposed luxury apartment
development on a lead-smelting site could cause environmental
problems without providing homes or jobs for islanders. The
extension of the Docklands Light Railway to Lewisham will
temporarily close Millwall Park.
The Labour-run council is only too well aware that it must
address such grievances and fully mobilise its vote next month if
the Isle of Dogs is not again to become a symbol of racial
division and the subject of national contempt. One of the sitting
Labour councillors in Millwall, Martin Young, admitted: "People
have a clear choice between us and the BNP."
Copyright 1998 Newspaper Publishing PLC
*****
_________________________________________________________________
AUSTRIAN RIGHTIST ENJOYING GROWING POPULARITY
_________________________________________________________________
By George Jahn, Associated Press, 04/14/98 01:51
VIENNA, Austria (AP) - Europe's most popular rightist must
be doing something right. Ahead of Sunday's Austrian presidential
elections, he's getting more attention than most candidates - and
he's not even running.
Joerg Haider, notorious for past praise of Hitler and the
Nazis, has set his sights on an office more important than the
largely ceremonial presidency: He wants to become chancellor,
Austria's equivalent of prime minister.
With general elections a year away, Haider has the best
chance of any European rightist to govern - his Freedom Party is
nearly even with the conservative People's Party, Austria's No. 2
political force, which governs in coalition with the leading
Socialists.
Elections last month in Lower Austria, the country's most
populous province, confirmed that Haider is on an upward swing.
His party gained three additional seats and the Socialists lost
two. He now hopes that three other provincial elections next year
ahead of the national vote will reinforce his party's popularity.
``We are already winning,'' Haider told The Associated Press
when asked if he would achieve his goal of ousting Socialist
Chancellor Viktor Klima next year. ``At every moment, our chances
are increasing.''
Sunday's balloting leaves many Austrians cold - incumbent
Thomas Klestil is the overwhelming favorite, and the lack of
power associated with the presidency makes its outcome irrelevant
to some.
But Haider - whose popularity rests on anti-foreigner
rhetoric, flashes of pro-Nazi sentiment and flamboyant exposes of
corruption in other parties - has used keen judgment to exploit
the presidential campaign in his bid for the chancellorship.
But is the man who praised Hitler's ``decent employment
policies'' and who described the Nazi dictator's black-uniformed
Waffen SS troops as ``men of character'' ready to lead a
democratic country? Can Haider govern in a Europe with
increasingly open borders while repeatedly saying that closed
boundaries are the key to Austria's survival?
The trim 48-year-old lawyer with a perpetual tan, whose
accomplishments include bungee-jumping and who changes from jeans
to suits with chameleon-like ease depending on the crowd he's
addressing, has learned from the past.
He has blunted his sharp rhetoric. He has avoided bad
company since his 1996 meeting with SS veterans. And he attended
Harvard for a few weeks last year, as much to burnish his image
as his knowledge of economics.
Outside Haider's office, a short-haired, young tough,
dressed in tight-fitting black, eyes visitors suspiciously. The
office itself, however, conveys another image; a full-size
American flag shares a stand with an Austrian one, and a framed
photo showing Haider with the late psychoanalyst Viktor E. Frankl
- a Viennese Jew - hangs behind his desk.
``I have learned to give clear speeches,'' Haider says about
his new, more politically correct statements. He hits all the
right keys when listing what his party stands for: free-market,
democracy, less government, more social support of the needy.
Beyond growing popularity, Haider claims to have nothing in
common with France's Jean-Marie Le Pen, another well-known
European far-rightist, despite a shared aversion of immigrants.
``Mr. Le Pen has a very racist program,'' Haider says. ``We
don't have the (immigration) debate on a racial basis.''
Yet only moments later, he slips into the populist rhetoric
that makes him a winner with millions of Austrians who believe
that a flood of cheap workers, crooks and other undesirables from
East Europe stands ready to inundate Austria.
``We take the right stand at the right time to save Austria
against the dangers coming from outside,'' Haider says.
Copyright 1998 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
*****
_________________________________________________________________
HIMMLER'S DAUGHTER HELPS EX-SS MEN
_________________________________________________________________
THE TIMES: FOREIGN NEWS
SATURDAY, 18 APRIL 1998
http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/
Deborah Collcutt reports from Frankfurt on the woman who is
a living link with Nazi history
A CHARITY partly run by Heinrich Himmler's daughter to help
ex-SS veterans is rallying support for a former concentration
camp guard who faces prosecution for war crimes.
The group Stille Hilfe (Quiet Aid) supports former
high-ranking Nazis, and in the past it has helped some of the
Third Reich's most prominent officers, including Klaus Barbie and
Erich Priebke. Gudrun Burwitz, 69, daughter of Adolf Hitler's
leading henchman, does not deny that she is currently involved
with Stille Hilfe, describing herself simply as one of 23 members
in a dying organisation: "It's true I help where I can, but I
refuse to discuss my work."
One member the organisation helped to start a new life in
southern Germany is Anton Malloth, a former SS guard at the
Theresienstadt concentration camp in the Czech Republic. Herr
Malloth, 87, is now being investigated in connection with the
deaths of up to 700 Jews at the camp and is wanted by the Czech
authorities to stand trial there. Stille Hilfe will send a letter
to members appealing for help.
Frau Burwitz is feted by the veteran elite just as she was
by her own father, and has attended an SS veterans' rally in
Austria.
Like the children of Martin Bormann and Hermann Goering, she
knows the fame attached to having such men as fathers. Unlike
them, she keeps alive the memory of her father - the architect of
the Final Solution. She is Himmler's only legitimate child, whom
he nicknamed "Puppi" (little doll).
Stille Hilfe was originally set up in 1951 to help SS and
senior Nazi veterans and their families financially and, if
necessary, to give them a new identity in a faraway land.
More than 50 years after her father bit into a cyanide phial
rather than face execution at the hands of the British who
discovered him in northern Germany in the closing days of the
war, Frau Burwitz commands respect.
"They were terrified of her," Andrea Ropke, a respected
authority on neo-Nazism who attended the rally in Ulrichsberg,
northern Austria with Frau Burwitz, said. "All these high-ranking
former officers lined up and she asked, 'Where did you serve?'
showing off her vast knowledge of military logistics."
Physically, Frau Burwitz is unexceptional, with her greying
blonde hair scraped into a tight bun and her neat clothes. She
lives in a detached house in the quiet Munich suburb of
Furstenried which she shares with her husband and student
daughter. She carried her family surname until she married in her
late 30s.
She was born in 1929, just over a year after her father
married her mother, Marga, the blonde-haired, blue-eyed daughter
of a wealthy East Prussian.
Gudrun remained the apple of her father's eye even after the
marriage began to deteriorate and Himmler spent ever more time
with his lover in Berlin.
Unable to bear him any more children, Marga, eight years
older than her husband, adopted a boy but Himmler showed him
little interest, preferring instead to lavish "Puppi" with
expensive gifts. His visits to the family home near Munich became
so few that Gudrun was often flown to Berlin just so her father,
by then Germany's second most powerful man, could spend a few
hours with her.
He was already involved in a passionate affair with his
secretary, Hedwig Potthast, who bore him a much-wanted natural
son, Helge. But Gudrun remained his favourite as she demonstrates
in an entry in her wartime diary written when at the age of 12
when her father "spoiled" her with a day trip to one of the death
camps: "Today we went to the SS concentration camp at Dachau. We
saw everything we could. We saw the gardening work. We saw the
pear trees. We saw all the pictures painted by the prisoners.
Marvellous. And afterwards we had a lot to eat ... it was very
nice."
When her father committed suicide in the Allied
interrogation centre near Luneburg, on May 23, 1945, she was
distraught when told the news. She was held with her mother in
the British-occupied zone and detained in prison for four years.
Gudrun would later tell friends that they were worst years
of her life and she had been made to suffer because of her
father. Penniless after a life of privilege and social standing,
mother and daughter turned to Stille Hilfe when they were
released from jail and were offered refuge in Bielefeld, where
she taught herself bookbinding and dressmaking.
Later, she moved to Munich, where she met and later married
Wulf-Dieter Burwitz, a writer who supported her as Marga fought
in vain against cancer. The couple have two children in their
early 20s: a son, now a qualified lawyer, and a daughter, who is
a student.
They are comfortably off and now Frau Burwitz no longer
works, she devotes all her time when she is not sewing or cooking
for her children, to her father's extended family. Andrea Ropke,
who advises the German Government on the neo-Nazi scene, claims
that Stille Hilfe is closely linked to a number of outlawed
movements. The opposition Social Democratic party has called for
an investigation into its charitable status, but Bonn has refused
to act against it.
Copyright 1998 Times Newspapers Ltd.
*****
_________________________________________________________________
KKK DELIVERS HATE TO THE DOOR
`Repugnant' flyers in Santa Rosa weekly
_________________________________________________________________
San Francisco Examiner
Friday, April 17, 1998, Page A 1
Emelyn Cruz Lat OF THE EXAMINER STAFF
http://www.sfgate.com/
A Ku Klux Klan group noted for its confrontational and
splashy methods of getting publicity has apparently found a new
way of delivering its racist message by inserting flyers in local
free papers and distributing them door-to-door.
The method, used in recent months across the country and
most recently this week in Santa Rosa, has enraged both readers
and newspaper publishers, and has left local authorities
wondering whether they have any power to stop it.
"We're still awaiting for word from our district attorney as
to whether or not the (KKK) flyers are in violation of any
criminal statute," said Santa Rosa Police Cmdr. Scott Swanson.
"They certainly are repugnant. But we're trying to discern
if they are unlawful. We're also trying to evaluate whether or
not removal of newspapers from newspaper racks, when they're free
for the taking, constitutes a criminal violation."
The Classified Gazette, which distributes about 28,000
copies in Marin and Sonoma counties each week, was targeted in
the most recent incident in northwest Santa Rosa.
Dozens of residents found the KKK flyers wrapped in the
weekly were thrown on their lawns and porches beginning late last
week. The flyers were stamped with an address in Victor, a
community outside Lodi.
In the past few days, angry people have flooded the weekly
with calls, complaining about the racist leaflet, which calls for
violence against gays, blacks and Jews and promises "to solve the
n- - - problem by FORCE!"
Mark Potok, spokesman for Klanwatch, the anti-KKK arm of the
Southern Poverty Law Center, said the group believed to be
responsible has used the same methods in South Carolina, Texas
and western Pennsylvania.
The American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, one of the most
aggressive and quickest-growing groups, has mushroomed from one
chapter in Butler, Ind., in 1996 to 12 chapters in the past year
in such states as Colorado, Georgia, New York, Texas and Florida,
Potok said. However, it is not known how many members the group
has.
"They are not in the same vein as a number of Klan groups
patterned after the David Duke style of a kinder, gentler KKK
that tries to pass itself off as a white civic group," Potok
said. "The group hurls every kind of epithet available at every
group. They're an extremely virulent strain of the Klan."
The Santa Rosa Press Democrat reported that the American
Knights are also suspected of a Lodi high school cross burning
this year and of circulating flyers in Stockton.
Jeff Berry, a national imperial wizard of the American
Knights of the KKK, the group named in the flyers, said his
members are only exercising their First Amendment right to free
speech.
The flyers, he said, were distributed "to bring people's
attention to how the white race is being treated."
Berry also contends that his group has not broken any laws
and was "actually doing the newspaper company a favor by
distributing them on people's porches."
"It's not any different from people passing out flyers about
Martin Luther King Jr. or Malcolm X," Berry said from his group's
headquarters in Butler, Ind. "As long as we aren't singling a
single person out, as long as we're not threatening a specific
person, it's not a crime."
Newspaper owner and publisher Joe Walsh said he believes
crimes were committed against his paper and the community.
"We're pretty disgusted about what's happened," he said.
"It's a crime. They stole our papers, used them without our
permission and damaged our reputation."
Walsh said he is considering suing and has offered a $1,000
reward for information leading to the arrests and convictions of
those responsible.
Walsh said the image of his 30-year-old, family oriented
publication has been tarnished by the racist flyers.
"We pride ourselves with a reputation we've set up as a
community service," he said.
"It's sickening to find out that these people are still
around, and they have given the false impression we are
affiliated with them in some way."
When people noticed the flyers in the paper, "there was a
lot of anger directed at the paper initially," said office
manager Kathy Noble, who fielded more than 30 calls.
"People thought we were affiliated with the KKK or had
accepted their advertising," she said. "Callers were absolutely
outraged."
Noble said the paper received a complaint from a grandmother
who said her 8-year-old granddaughter found the paper and brought
it in.
Another customer called to say his family was upset. The
caller is Caucasian, his son-in-law is black and his daughter-
in-law is Asian, Noble said.
Alice Beasley, attorney for the paper, said whoever is
responsible is guilty of malicious mischief, at the very least,
and perhaps larceny for using the Gazette without paying for its
services or asking for the paper's permission, she said. If the
person or persons responsible are identified, they also can be
sued in civil court for defamation, she said.
"It's not their paper," Beasley said. "It's not free to
them. They could go out and distribute their flyers, but can't go
out and put their message on someone else's billboard. Free
speech does not entitle a party to turn over their space to
someone who doesn't pay for it, especially if they don't agree
with the message."
Santa Rosa police are trying to figure out who's responsible
and if any crimes were committed.
"At this point, no one is taking credit for this document,"
Swanson said. "We don't know if this is the work of an organized
group or one person with a copier. We're hoping this is just some
rogue individual who has gotten a clear message in return that we
don't want this in our community."
Copyright 1998 San Francisco Examiner
*****
_________________________________________________________________
THE SECOND COMING
_________________________________________________________________
By Mumia Abu-Jamal
Column Written 4/13/98
Source: Mumia, Mu...@aol.com
- Friday, 17 April 1998 -
*
"Than politics the American citizen knows no higher
profession - for it is the most lucrative."
Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America (1835)
If the American cinema is any reasonable reflection of the
inner hopes and dreams rolling around in the National psyche,
then the megahit Titanic's record-smashing popularity, poised
beside the relatively underwhelming gate of Amistad, speaks
volumes in its insights into which history the majority opts
to recall. In the former work, the pride of fin de seicle
technology crashes into an unforeseen natural obstacle, resulting
in catastrophe, leavened by love on the high seas. In the latter
work, a group of men and women, bound for a Caribbean slave port
battle against overwhelming odds, shatter their shackles, and
sail the seas in search of freedom.
It is, of course, an enormous oversimplification to suggest
that the race of the protagonists resulted in the wide gap in
popularity, but it would be disingenuous to suggest that race was
not an important factor in which film attracted the most patrons.
Black slaves killing their slavers has not exactly been a staple
of American film.
But this is not a film review. It, through Amistad, brings
us to the shores of Africa. Any true, historical telling of the
slave trade must include the uncomfortable, yet undeniable fact
that African royalty (elites) sold their people into a hellish
bondage. It is also a fact that African slavery was far different
from the perpetual, hereditary, racialized slavery of Europe and
the Americans. In the African context slavery was usually
reserved for captured prisoners of war. In America, slavery was
initially an Indian imposition, until Bartolome de las Casas
received papal permission to exploit Africans as slaves to
replace the Indians who, reportedly, died like flies from working
in the tropical West Indian sun.
The unholy union of European greed and African elites
brought untold hardship, suffering and death to uncounted
millions, for centuries.
It is in this context, then, that the coming of African
American elites, businessmen and politicians, back to Africa, as
part of the White House trade mission to West, Central and
Southern Africa, raises concern. Here, again, we look to history
for lessons, where black Americans returned to Africa, over a
century ago, only to plunge indigenous, free African people into
virtual bondage to US capital. The case is Liberia. Isn't it
interesting that the first US President to host multinational
state visit to Africa virtually ignored the nation set up by
black Americans?
To those with a smattering of knowledge about African and
American history, the presidential avoidance of its first de
facto colony (the British did the same thing in Sierra Leone)
was, to say the least, a bad omen. Why would US government, and
US corporations, which seem to be daily waging a war against the
black poor in America, now give a damn about the black poor in
Africa?
The short answer is, they don't. Capital cares only for the
largest and quickest return on investments. Politicians only care
about making the work safe for capital.
For over 400 years, blacks suffered in a searing American
hell because African elites and white capital joined hands. Now,
the sons and daughters of that carnage have returned to Africa;
like Greeks bearing gifts.
Copyright 1998 Mumia Abu-Jamal. All Rights Reserved.
* * *
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