Bellant: Old Nazis/Introduction
Acknowledgments
This study was researched and written over a four-year
period, beginning in mid-1983. The research was begun to satisfy
my own curiosity, evolved into a magazine article proposal, and
finally grew into this report.
The summer of 1983 was spent in Detroit-area libraries,
researching individuals, organizations and political history.
Later in the research process, trips to the Library of Congress
and use of interlibrary loan broadened my access to published sources.
During the course of my research, I attended both small and
large events sponsored by groups described herein. Examples
include the 1984 and 1985 World Anti-Communist League
conventions, the 1985 and 1986 Republican Heritage Groups Council
conventions, a number of American Security Council activities,
and many events of other groups utilized by the U.S. fascist
network, including events sponsored by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon’s
organizations and by Liberty Lobby. I interviewed nearly a
hundred leaders and observers of these organizations and studied
many of the books, periodicals and newsletters they publish.
Occasionally I became skeptical that what I was finding
could, in fact, be true. To help me chart my way in these
little-known political waters, I would periodically share my
results with a handful of journalists and other somewhat detached
observers of American political realities, to test my information
and hypotheses and to help maintain a balanced perspective.
When reading this study, some may be inclined to see it as
a partisan attack on the Republican Party, but it was not
conceived or researched from a partisan standpoint. Nor was it
done with the knowledge of, or in concert with, any element of
the Democratic party or any other political organization.
Certainly Democrats are included where warranted, but of the two
parties, the fascist network has chosen the GOP as its home. This
is an objective problem that exists within the American political
process; it is not the product of partisan bias.
Perhaps the greatest impediment to understanding the
networks discussed in this paper lies in the failure of academic
research to address thoroughly a period of history of crucial
importance. There is very little literature on the histories of
the German occupation of countries on the Eastern Front, much
less a discussion of the role of the Waffen SS and other
collaborationist elements in that region. The escape of important
collaborationists from the East, and the integration of these
individuals and organizations into the Western political system,
is also virtually ignored. Finally, most of the literature,
admittedly sparse, on American fascism appears to have been
produced by journalists and political activists, with little
in-depth research by academicians. As the last leaders of these
European and American groups die, I wonder how much of this
history will ever be recovered. I have included a short list of
readings related to matters discussed in this report.
I would like to thank those whose own research and support
helped with my report, including Dr. Fred Chary, Dr. Barry
Mehler, Dennis Debbaudt, Kris Jacobs and Wes McCune. Christopher
Simpson volunteered useful suggestions after reading a final
draft. Certain friends provided assistance during the four-year
period of my work, especially Bo and Chris, as well as Dee and
Suzanne. This paper would not have been possible without the
support of Political Research Associates: the encouragement and
comments of its director, Dr. Jean Hardisty, the careful editing
of Chip Berlet, and the relentless pursuit of footnotes by
Margaret Quigley. The most important support, however, came from
my wife, Debi, as this work was conducted for so long in so many
out-of-town places. She accepted my work schedule with great patience.
Finally, I would like to thank those leaders of the groups
mentioned herein who gave their time to be interviewed, including
John Fisher. They will not be happy with this study. To them, I
can only say that I, myself, wish it weren’t so.
(Russ Bellant, Detroit, Michigan, 08/03/88)
Author’s Note for the Second Edition
In my original acknowledgements, I stated that this report
was in no way associated with the Democratic Party or any element
thereof. Nevertheless the report, released in September, 1988,
was attacked by the George Bush presidential campaign, the
Republican Party and emigre rightists as a partisan attack timed
for the November 1988 elections.
No evidence was offered for these assertions, because none
exists. There is evidence to the contrary, including attempts to
publish versions of the report in 1986 and 1987 in several
magazines and journals. When the report was released in September
of 1988, it was as much news to the Dukakis campaign as it was to
the rest of the country.
Furthermore, some Republicans circulated false statements
about the publisher and myself in an apparent effort to
discourage serious examination of the report by the press, public
and other Republicans.
The Republican Party and President George Bush have yet to
address the serious issues raised in this report.
(R.B. – 12/15/88)
INTRODUCTION
Reagan, Remorse and Revisionist History
It’s May 17, 1985: President Reagan has been back in
the nation’s capital less than two weeks from his much-criticized
trip to the Bitburg cemetery in Germany. Now, floodlights and
television cameras that are part of a President’s entourage are
waiting at the Shoreham Hotel, as are 400 luncheon guests.
Ronald Reagan had recently characterized the Nazi Waffen SS
as “victims.” It seemed a rewrite of the history of World War II
rather than a recommitment to its painful lessons. Reagan’s
comments held special meaning for some of his afternoon luncheon
guests. Although it was a Republican Party affair, it was not the
usual GOP set, but a special ethnic outreach unit, the National
Republican Heritage Groups (Nationalities) Council (NRHG{N}C).
The Republican Heritage Groups Council is an umbrella for various
ethnic Republican clubs and operates under the auspices of the
Republican National Committee.
If President Reagan needed a boost after the Bitburg
fiasco, this was the crowd to supply it. To the assembled media,
Reagan’s visit that afternoon appeared as a routine stop, perhaps
paying a re-election debt. The Republican Heritage Groups Council
did, in fact, help elect Reagan. And they gave him a long
standing ovation that afternoon at the Shoreham. To some of those
attending the 1985 Council meeting, Reagan’s rehabilitation of
the Waffen SS must have offered a sense of personal and
historic vindication.
The Republican Heritage Groups Council has a special type
of outreach. It appears to have consciously recruited some of its
members–and some of its leaders–from an Eastern European emigre
network which includes anti-Semites, racists, authoritarians and
fascists, including sympathizers and collaborators of Hitler’s
Third Reich, former Nazis and even possible war criminals. The
persons in this network represent only a radical right fraction
of the ethnic communities they claim to represent.
These anti-democratic and racialist components of the
Republican Heritage Groups Council use anti-communist sentiments
as a cover for their views while they operate as a
emigre fascist network within the Republican Party. Some of these
less savory anti-democratic personalities were part of the 1987
Republican Heritage Groups Council meeting as well as that 1985
luncheon audience; and some would later join the 1988 election
campaign of President George Bush.
The Nizkor Project: Remembering the Holocaust (Shoah)
Archive/File: people/b/bellant.russ bellant.intro
From: [email protected] (NLG Civil Liberties Committee)
Newsgroups: alt.conspiracy
Subject: Re: Bellant: Old Nazi Networks in US
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
Date: 12 Dec 92 02:27:00 GMT
References: <[email protected]>
Nf-ID: #R:cdp:1299600110:cdp:1299600112:000:8075
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!cberlet Dec 11 18:27:00 1992
/* Written 9:10 pm Dec 8, 1992 by cberlet in igc:publiceye */
/* Written 8:30 pm Dec 6, 1992 by cberlet in igc:p.news */
/* Written 6:20 pm Mar 4, 1990 by nlgclc in igc:publiceye */
