Unity and Struggle

These cases, however, remain the exception so far. For one thing, tactical reasons discourage the election-oriented parties from favoring direct affiliation with Skinheads; for another, most Skins have a distaste for these parties which they see as part of "the system." Yet the situation remains somewhat fluid. An example is the youth organization of the NPD, the Junge Nationaldemokraten (JN), which has around 150 activists. This group has lately adopted a militant approach, and disregarded official NPD policy prohibiting contacts with neo-Nazi groups. Last year Einheit und Kampf (Unity and Struggle), the organ of the JN, published an interview with Andreas Siegfried Pohl, a former member of a Skin band, who was an official of the banned Nationalist Front. In the interview Pohl called for a "youth" and "youth-style" (read: "Skinhead") role in "redeveoping a national APO," or extra-parliamentary opposition, a codeword suggesting street fighters. The January 1994 issue of Einheit und Kampf advertised concerts featuring the aforementioned hard-line Skin bands Brutale Haie, Frontal, Trietaeter, and Noie Werte, organized "in cooperation with" the JN. Another ad in the paper sought a new producer for the Brutale Haie band.

There is also evidence that convicted Skinheads are receiving a thorough indoctrination in neo-Nazi ideology at "comradeship evenings" held in prison. Particularly active on this front is the aforementioned Relief Agency for National Political Prisoners and their Dependents, a right-wing group that sends a steady stream of propaganda to incarcerated neo-Nazi radicals and Skinheads.

Germany's Skinheads have also developed a growing network of contacts with Skinheads in other European countries, notably England, France, Holland, Sweden, Austria, Hungary and, to some degree, Poland.

Work Cited

Anti-Defamation League. The Skinhead International: A Worldwide Survey of Neo-Nazi Skinheads. New York: Anti-Defamation League, 1995. Anti-Defamation League, 823 United Nations Plaza, New York, NY 10017.

Disclaimer: not all skinheads are neo-nazis or white supremacists. There are many skinheads who are non- or anti-racist, and who come from a variety of different religious and cultural backgrounds. Nizkor recognizes their achievements in anti-racism: they are part of the traditional, non-racist skinhead subculture and are not the perpetrators of the hate crimes discussed here.

Unless otherwise specified, the word "skinhead" within these pages refers only to neo-Nazi and white supremacist skinheads, the perpetrators of hate crimes and participants in racist organizations. We cannot edit the body of the text above, because it was not written by Nizkor, and to change the wording would be fraudulent. Please keep in mind that not all skinheads are racist.

The original plaintext version of this file is available via ftp.

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