{"id":3830,"date":"2018-02-12T12:03:47","date_gmt":"2018-02-12T10:03:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/goldendawnwatch.org\/?p=3830"},"modified":"2025-05-04T23:36:39","modified_gmt":"2025-05-04T21:36:39","slug":"fascism-advisory-in-effect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/goldendawnwatch.org\/en\/blog\/fascism-advisory-in-effect\/","title":{"rendered":"Fascism Advisory in Effect"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/lareviewofbooks.org\/article\/fascism-advisory-in-effect\/\" target=\"_blank\">lareviewofbooks.org<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"featuredImage\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/lareviewofbooks-org-cgwbfgl6lklqqj3f4t3.netdna-ssl.com\/media\/image.php?w=640&amp;h=640&amp;zc=1&amp;q=80&amp;src=%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F02%2Ffascism.png&amp;hash=c6fc5677ce29240abce75011d60f317b\" alt=\"\" width=\"284\" height=\"271\" \/><\/div>\n<p>RIGHT NOW, Greeks who say Adolf Hitler was a \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2014\/apr\/16\/greece-golden-dawn-hitler\">great personality, like [Joseph] Stalin<\/a>,\u201d and an American who thinks Benito Mussolini is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/story\/2016\/02\/trump-tweets-interesting-mussolini-quote-219932\">quotable<\/a> are politicking in the halls of power. From the streets of Athens to Charlottesville, their sinister references are alive and mercilessly kicking, as their followers chant about blood, honor, and soil.<\/p>\n<p><em>Take heed<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>I. The European Example<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In September 2015, Golden Dawn \u2014 \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2015\/sep\/21\/neo-fascist-greek-party-election-golden-dawn-third-place\">one of Europe\u2019s most violent far-right parties<\/a>\u201d \u2014 placed third in Greece\u2019s general election, reinforcing the parliamentary presence it had <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newstatesman.com\/politics\/2012\/11\/golden-dawns-third-place-polls-not-all-it-seems\">won<\/a> in 2012 under the anti-immigrant slogan: \u201cSo we can rid this land of filth.\u201d Polls <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en_dk\/article\/bnpyym\/golden-dawn-third-biggest-party-greece-876\">revealed<\/a> that nearly 17 percent of the country\u2019s 25 percent unemployed population \u2014 mired in the sixth year of \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/commentisfree\/2015\/sep\/03\/greece-islands-economic-depression-migration-kos\">the deepest recession ever witnessed by a developed economy<\/a>\u201d \u2014 had opted for Golden Dawn at the ballot boxes. What\u2019s more, the party\u2019s popularity increased twofold on some of the Greek islands, where <a href=\"http:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/afr\/news\/latest\/2015\/12\/5683d0b56\/million-sea-arrivals-reach-europe-2015.html\">many hundreds of thousands of people<\/a> \u2014 refugees young and old, mostly from Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq \u2014 would emerge via smuggler boats by the end of the year.<\/p>\n<p>Against that splintering backdrop, an 1,109-page decree already <a href=\"http:\/\/goldendawnwatch.org\/?page_id=420&amp;lang=en\">detailed<\/a> the alleged crimes committed by Golden Dawn officials and members since 2008. A trial of 69 suspects, including the party\u2019s entire parliamentary group from the 2012 elections, was also underway and continues today. The Golden Dawners, who face charges ranging from participation in a criminal gang to illegal weapons possession, money laundering, human trafficking, aggravated assault, and murder, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-greece-farright-court\/greek-golden-dawn-mps-before-judge-call-charges-fairy-tale-idUSBRE9900QF20131001\">claim<\/a> they are victims of a conspiracy and political persecution. But in the eyes of a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.opendemocracy.net\/can-europe-make-it\/will-horner\/what-biggest-trial-of-fascist-criminality-since-nuremberg-means-for-f\">member of the prosecution<\/a>, the alleged gang is embroiled in \u201cthe biggest trial of fascist criminality since Nuremberg.\u201d<strong><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_257030\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-257030\" src=\"https:\/\/lareviewofbooks-org-cgwbfgl6lklqqj3f4t3.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/1.png\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lareviewofbooks-org-cgwbfgl6lklqqj3f4t3.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/1.png 618w, https:\/\/lareviewofbooks-org-cgwbfgl6lklqqj3f4t3.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/1-300x196.png 300w\" alt=\"\" width=\"618\" height=\"403\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Demonstration against the bailout memoranda. Marios Lolos \/ Athens 2012<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>During the September 2013 raid on the home of Golden Dawn\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=sPY5R45aBxg\">Sieg-Heiling<\/a> leader Nikolaos Michaloliakos, police discovered a portrait of Hitler, three unregistered firearms, and wads of tens of thousands of euros. \u201cI am not a Nazi,\u201d then-55-year-old Michaloliakos <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2013\/10\/04\/world\/europe\/far-right-lawmaker-jailed-in-greece-before-trial.html?mtrref=www.google.com.eg&amp;gwh=B2E1E681EE0B30D17BD7C920C44309B7&amp;gwt=pay\">fulminated after his arrest<\/a> on suspicion of using the party to run a criminal gang. Rather, he is simply a Greek nationalist with \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lrb.co.uk\/blog\/2013\/10\/03\/yiannis-baboulias\/who-is-nikolaos-michaloliakos\/\">youthful indiscretions<\/a>,\u201d or so he claims.<\/p>\n<p>In the 1970s, Michaloliakos was apprehended for such offenses as <a href=\"http:\/\/goldendawnwatch.org\/?p=1015&amp;lang=en\">assaulting<\/a> journalists at the funeral of one of the military junta\u2019s arch-torturers and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2012\/oct\/26\/golden-dawn-greece-far-right\">illegal possession<\/a> of guns and explosives. The Greek dictator, Nazi collaborator, and CIA recruit Georgios Papadopoulos \u2014 a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lrb.co.uk\/blog\/2013\/10\/03\/yiannis-baboulias\/who-is-nikolaos-michaloliakos\/\">hero<\/a> and former fellow inmate of Michaloliakos \u2014 is said to have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/article\/greeces-golden-dawn-fascists-gate\/\">coached<\/a> the young fascist behind bars. By the 1980s, Michaloliakos launched the magazine <em>Golden Dawn<\/em>, <a href=\"https:\/\/books.google.com.eg\/books?id=fIbFBgAAQBAJ&amp;pg=PA153&amp;lpg=PA153&amp;dq=%E2%80%9CWe+are+the+faithful+soldiers+of+the+National+Socialist+idea+and+nothing+else.%E2%80%9D&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=Ys66rdKPxL&amp;sig=MfCe6qCnsKmmU_SiM4YbDjsXy2o&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=0ahUKEwiBu4a58afYAhVSb1AKHcqYBuoQ6AEINDAB#v=onepage&amp;q=%E2%80%9CWe%20are%20the%20faithful%20soldiers%20of%20the%20National%20Socialist%20idea%20and%20nothing%20else.%E2%80%9D&amp;f=false\">battle crying<\/a> in print: \u201cWe are the faithful soldiers of the National Socialist idea and nothing else.\u201d He founded a fringe group of the same name in 1985 and registered it as a political party less than a decade later. In 2010, his party, whose official slogan, \u201cBlood, Honor, Golden Dawn,\u201d is based on the Hitler Youth\u2019s own \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/goldendawnwatch.org\/?p=3474&amp;lang=en\">Blut und Ehre<\/a>,\u201d won a seat on the Athens City Council. And two years later, with the \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.spiegel.de\/international\/world\/a-political-establishment-in-freefall-greece-lurches-to-left-amid-radical-austerity-a-816598.html\">superiority of the white race and the Greek nation<\/a>\u201d as their general truth, Golden Dawn <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/news\/2012\/07\/05\/attacks-democracy-greece\">secured enough votes<\/a> to enter the national parliament.<\/p>\n<p>The Greek constitution <a href=\"https:\/\/rosalux.gr\/de\/publication\/golden-dawn-trial\">forbids<\/a> the banning of political parties \u2014 unless one is proven to be, let\u2019s say, a <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.opendemocracy.net\/dimitris-christopoulos\/he-golden-dawn-trial-major-event-for-democracy-in-greece-and-beyond\">criminal gang in disguise<\/a><\/span>. Accordingly, the trial of Golden Dawn suspects inches toward its third year, while Michaloliakos\u2019s so-called \u201cpolitical movement of the people\u201d represents a spiraling global threat.<\/p>\n<p>After electoral defeats in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2017\/may\/07\/marine-le-pen-defeated-front-national-far-from-finished\">France<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2017\/03\/15\/dutch-vote-droves-not-geert-wilders-breitbarts-candidate-prime-minister\/\">Netherlands<\/a> last year, Europe\u2019s far right found a rallying point in Golden Dawn \u2014 a barometer of undisguised fascism and, as it turns out, of rightward winds roiling American politics. For a case in point, we need look no further than Matthew Heimbach, the Indiana-based co-founder of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.splcenter.org\/fighting-hate\/extremist-files\/group\/traditionalist-worker-party\">extremist<\/a> Traditionalist Worker Party. Last August, at the \u201cUnite the Right\u201d rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, the 26-year-old <a href=\"http:\/\/www.motherjones.com\/politics\/2017\/04\/matt-heimbach-white-nationalist-trump-violence\/\">white nationalist<\/a> marched alongside hundreds of far-rightists including armed neo-Nazis and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/news\/news-desk\/donald-trump-and-the-ku-klux-klan-a-history\">the Ku Klux Klan<\/a>. \u201cBlood and soil,\u201d they chanted, borrowing the Nazi slogan \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/politics\/features\/the-history-of-white-supremacy-in-america-w498334\">Blut und Boden<\/a>.\u201d There, in the street, he <a href=\"https:\/\/news.vice.com\/story\/vice-news-tonight-full-episode-charlottesville-race-and-terror\">told<\/a> <em>VICE News Tonight<\/em> that his American ilk follows \u201cthe European example of Golden Dawn.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In fall 2014, Heimbach rubbed shoulders with some of Michaloliakos\u2019s \u201cfaithful soldiers\u201d at an event hosted by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2012\/10\/21\/nyregion\/reported-golden-dawn-sightings-rattle-astoria-queens.html\">Golden Dawn New York<\/a>. \u201cHail Golden Dawn,\u201d the American supremacist later saluted his Greek allies in an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tradworker.org\/2014\/10\/meeting-with-golden-dawn\/\">online diary entry<\/a>. \u201cWhile the globalists, especially the European Union, have been looting Greece financially for years, the ruling mainstream political parties have done nothing to stand up for the best interests of the Greek people,\u201d he argued. \u201cGolden Dawn has risen as a political movement of the people to fulfill the needs of the people [\u2026] As Greeks starve, the mainstream parties promote cutting wages and pensions to the bone while bringing in hordes of new immigrants from the Third World.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Like the United States\u2019s far right, Golden Dawn thrives on a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/science\/archive\/2017\/08\/the-worlds-worst-support-group\/536850\/\">victimhood narrative<\/a> complete with violent visions of national purity, now augmented by the bloodstained spectacle of Donald Trump\u2019s White House. The United States, where \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.jacobinmag.com\/2017\/10\/wealth-inequality-united-states-federal-reserve\">wealth inequality is higher than ever<\/a>,\u201d and Greece, where <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-eurozone-greece-unemployment\/greek-unemployment-steady-at-20-9-percent-in-november-more-than-twice-euro-zones-idUSKBN1FS1CT\">unemployment is the highest in the eurozone<\/a>, demonstrate how <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/article\/economic-anxiety-didnt-make-people-vote-trump-racism-did\/\">economic anxiety<\/a> gets intricately interwoven with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.opendemocracy.net\/marcos-engelken-jorge\/upsurge-of-xenophobic-nationalism-threat-and-opportunity\">xenophobic nationalism<\/a>. A duplicitous advisory of sorts is in effect wherever the far right has gained some direct or indirect political influence: <em>Take heed of the coming boats and planes full of Third World invaders who will corrupt the purity of the First World nation \u2014 or, at the very least, steal more jobs and more taxpayer dollars.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>II. Killed by Nazis<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Last October, in Athens, I met a middle-aged leftist and self-described \u201csolidarian\u201d named Marcos (pseudonym), who had volunteered on the Greek island of Lesvos amid Europe\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jacobinmag.com\/2016\/11\/jungle-refugee-camp-calais-hollande-france\">worst refugee crisis<\/a> since World War II. I asked him to remark on the trial of Golden Dawn \u2014 or \u201cthe Nazi party in parliament,\u201d as it is known by its critics. In response, the solidarian recited a piece of graffiti from his city\u2019s streets, one that references the number of Greeks who once <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en_uk\/article\/bnpyym\/golden-dawn-third-biggest-party-greece-876\">cast ballots<\/a> in favor of Golden Dawn: \u201cThere are 500,000 fingerprints on the knife that killed Pavlos Fyssas.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Late one September night in 2013, Fyssas, the 34-year-old anti-fascist activist and rapper known as MC Killah P (\u201cKiller of the Past\u201d), was stabbed to death in the streets of Piraeus. In <a href=\"https:\/\/jailgoldendawn.com\/2015\/09\/24\/the-murder-of-pavlos-fyssas-a-political-anatomy\/\">public view and the presence of police<\/a>, a crowd of thugs wearing<a href=\"http:\/\/criticallegalthinking.com\/2013\/09\/18\/murder-fascists-greece\/\"> Golden Dawn shirts and military-style trousers<\/a> encircled Fyssas before their knife-wielding accomplice arrived on the scene. Shortly thereafter, a 45-year-old self-professed Golden Dawner named Giorgos Roupakias was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2013\/sep\/28\/golden-dawn-arrests-greece-uncharted-waters\">arrested<\/a> and claimed responsibility for the murder. Michaloliakos\u2019s party denied any involvement: \u201c[The accusers] are miserable and wretched not only because of their brazen lies and slander, but because they are exploiting a tragic event for politicking, to win votes and to divide Greek society,\u201d their <a href=\"http:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/world\/europe\/greek-anti-fascist-rapper-murdered-by-neo-nazi-golden-dawn-supporter-8824664.html\">statement<\/a> read. The following week, a handful of top Golden Dawn officials, plus multiple members, were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en_uk\/article\/4wmgad\/golden-dawn-greece-arrests\">arrested<\/a>. Among them was Michaloliakos, who became the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2013\/oct\/03\/golden-dawn-leader-jailed-nikos-michaloliakos\">first elected political head<\/a> to be jailed in Greece since the fall of his hero\u2019s junta in 1974.<\/p>\n<p>Ahead of the September 2015 elections, Michaloliakos, who had been released from prison earlier in the year after serving the pretrial maximum of 18 months, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en_uk\/article\/xd7v4a\/golden-dawn-accepts-political-responsibility-for-murder-876\">told a live radio show<\/a> that Golden Dawn accepts political responsibility for the murder of Fyssas. \u201cAs for criminal liability, there isn\u2019t any,\u201d he continued, adding, \u201cIs it right to condemn a whole party because one of its followers carried out a condemnable act?\u201d The prosecution, however, argues that the murder was a \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/thegroundtruthproject.org\/the-far-right\/\">coordinated assassination<\/a>\u201d by one of Golden Dawn\u2019s \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/jailgoldendawn.com\/2015\/09\/24\/the-murder-of-pavlos-fyssas-a-political-anatomy\/\">battalion squads<\/a>,\u201d which are said to be the party\u2019s \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/goldendawnwatch.org\/?p=3301&amp;lang=en\">beating heart<\/a>,\u201d targeting immigrants, refugees, leftists, communists, journalists, LGBTQ+ people, trade unionists, the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ekathimerini.com\/222852\/article\/ekathimerini\/news\/prosecution-lawyer-attacked-by-golden-dawn-supporters\">prosecution itself<\/a>, and anyone else who might oppose them.<\/p>\n<p>This past September, subsequent to the fourth anniversary of Fyssas\u2019s assassination, the Greek initiative <a href=\"https:\/\/jailgoldendawn.com\/2013\/11\/01\/for-the-civil-action-by-the-antifascist-movement-in-the-trial-of-golden-dawn\/\">Jail Golden Dawn<\/a> published a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=c0s-Ec17aos&amp;feature=youtu.be\">disturbing montage<\/a> that features footage of torch-bearing far-rightists chanting in the streets of Charlottesville and Golden Dawners doing the same in Greece, complete with analogous scenes of firearms being proudly clasped and punches being fiercely thrown. Following that, we see the face of Heather Heyer, the 32-year-old anti-racist activist and Charlottesville paralegal who was <a href=\"http:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/charlottesville-heather-heyers-cause-death-revealed-medical-report-686471\">killed<\/a> when a 20-year-old white nationalist named James Alex Fields Jr. rammed his car at high speed into a crowd of counter-protesters during the \u201cUnite the Right\u201d rally. A snapshot of Fyssas rapping on stage fades in, leading a portrait of Shehzad Luqman, the 27-year-old Pakistani immigrant who was stabbed to death by a pair of <a href=\"https:\/\/jailgoldendawn.com\/2014\/04\/16\/two-fascists-get-life-in-prison-for-pakistani-workers-murder\/\">Golden Dawn\u2013affiliated fascists<\/a> in January 2013 as he rode his bicycle to work through the streets of Athens. The final scene reads in white text on an otherwise blank screen, \u201cKilled by Nazis.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jail Golden Dawn has vividly captured the threat of an interconnected fascist movement. Following the results of the United States\u2019s 2016 election, Golden Dawn <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2016\/nov\/09\/far-right-first-to-congratulate-donald-trump-on-historic-upset\">hailed<\/a> the 71-year-old celebrity business magnate\u2019s win \u2014 or, \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2016\/11\/09\/hillary-clinton-concedes-to-donald-trump-after-historic-upset\/\">historic upset<\/a>\u201d \u2014 as one for \u201cthe forces which oppose globalization, are fighting illegal migration, and are in favor of clean ethnic states,\u201d proclaiming that \u201ca great global change is starting, which will continue with nationalists prevailing in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/article\/the-far-right-is-now-in-power-in-austria\/\">Austria<\/a>, Marine Le Pen in France and Golden Dawn in Greece.\u201d Today, they could celebrate last November\u2019s \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2017\/nov\/12\/white-europe-60000-nationalists-march-on-polands-independence-day\">great march of patriots<\/a>\u201d in Warsaw, where an estimated 60,000 people marched under the banner of \u201cWhite Europe,\u201d as well as the example of the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD), which this past September became the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/world\/2017\/09\/24\/germany-afd-gains-seats-national-parliament\/698039001\/\">first far-right party<\/a> to enter the Bundestag since the 1950s.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_257029\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-257029\" src=\"https:\/\/lareviewofbooks-org-cgwbfgl6lklqqj3f4t3.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/2.png\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lareviewofbooks-org-cgwbfgl6lklqqj3f4t3.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/2.png 616w, https:\/\/lareviewofbooks-org-cgwbfgl6lklqqj3f4t3.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/2-300x189.png 300w\" alt=\"\" width=\"616\" height=\"389\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Free distribution of produce outside the Agriculture Ministry. Marios Lolos \/ Athens 2013<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In late January 2017, following Trump\u2019s Inaugural Address, hundreds of Golden Dawners marched through the streets of Athens, torches in hand. Unsurprisingly, POTUS 45\u2019s \u201cAmerica First\u201d theme \u2014 with its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/politics\/archive\/2017\/01\/trump-america-first\/514037\/\">historical links<\/a> to prominent Americans including anti-Semites and Nazi sympathizers \u2014 drew praise from Golden Dawn, who envisions a \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2015\/10\/05\/opinion\/greeces-fascists-are-gaining.html\">Greece for the Greeks<\/a>\u201d and has spearheaded \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2012\/07\/12\/golden-dawn-pushes-greek-only-blood-bank\/\">Greek only<\/a>\u201d blood banks. Ilias Panagiotaros, who is one of the Golden Dawn parliamentarians on trial, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/world\/europe\/donald-trump-muslim-ban-greece-neo-nazi-golden-dawn-athens-march-protest-a7555706.html\">applauded<\/a> Trump\u2019s proposed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aclu-wa.org\/pages\/timeline-muslim-ban\">Muslim ban<\/a>. \u201cHis policies have given [Golden Dawn] a new wind of support,\u201d Panagiotaros said, adding, \u201cIt\u2019s validating and reinforcing our nationalistic and patriotic policies \u2014 policies that we have been advocating for years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Nazi symbolism shared by Golden Dawn and Trump\u2019s base would seem satirically kitsch, if it weren\u2019t so powerful. For another case in point, the recent documentary \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/fieldofvision.org\/a-night-at-the-garden\">A Night at the Garden<\/a>\u201d presents us with archival footage of the 1939 rally of some 20,000 Americans in New York\u2019s Madison Square Garden to celebrate the dawn of Nazism. Facing a colossal portrait of George Washington, scores of them extended their right arms in the Nazi salute. That historic affair is a glaring harbinger of, say, a menacing contemporary force like Richard B. Spencer, the 39-year-old white supremacist Trump supporter who coined the term \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/wonk\/wp\/2017\/08\/16\/the-alt-right-is-just-another-word-for-white-supremacy-study-finds\/?utm_term=.c7723337037d\">alt-right<\/a>\u201d almost a decade ago. In fall 2016, at the <a href=\"https:\/\/nationalpolicy.institute\/\">National Policy Institute<\/a>\u2019s annual conference \u2014 an event, held in the United States\u2019s capital, that \u201cendeavor[ed] to do the impossible: give voice to the interests of white peoples\u201d \u2014 Spencer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/politics\/archive\/2016\/11\/richard-spencer-speech-npi\/508379\/\">roared<\/a>: \u201cHail Trump, hail our people, hail victory!\u201d His 200-strong audience cheered while some gave the Sieg Heil of approval. The Southern Poverty Law Center <a href=\"https:\/\/www.splcenter.org\/fighting-hate\/extremist-files\/individual\/richard-bertrand-spencer-0\">describes<\/a> Spencer as \u201cone of [America\u2019s] most successful young white nationalist leaders \u2014 a suit-and-tie version of the white supremacists of old.\u201d In sum: Same rhetoric, different decade.<\/p>\n<p><strong>III. Not Guilty as Charged<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>With respect to the Golden Dawn trial, the example of the German Nazi party leaders in the aftermath of World War II has been observed. \u201cIn [the Nuremberg trials],\u201d writes the Greek investigative journalist Dimitris Psarras in his 2015 booklet <em><a href=\"http:\/\/goldendawnwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/gd_on_trial_web.pdf\">Golden Dawn on Trial<\/a><\/em>, \u201cmost of Hitler\u2019s associates responded to all accusations with the same formula \u2018not guilty as charged.\u2019 [\u2026] In other words, they did not deny having committed the act, but rather tried to situate it within their own value system, in which context it was not a criminal act.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Since day one, the Athens-based initiative Golden Dawn Watch (GDW) has been monitoring this \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/goldendawnwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/gd_on_trial_web.pdf\">Greek Nuremberg<\/a>,\u201d and their <a href=\"http:\/\/goldendawnwatch.org\/?page_id=420&amp;lang=en\">online archive<\/a> for the proceedings currently holds at least 205 summary reports. Below are three excerpts from the archive, each one annotated by Marios Lolos, who testified as a witness for the prosecution and has been a conflict photographer for 27 years, as well as Kostis Papaioannou, who monitors the trial with GDW and has been a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/commentisfree\/2017\/nov\/03\/europe-human-rights-greece-ioannis-mouzalas-council-of-europe\">human rights defender<\/a> for three decades. Think of each excerpt as part of a fascism advisory in effect on both sides of the Atlantic.<\/p>\n<p><strong>A. \u201cConcerned Citizens\u201d Stood Next to Riot Police<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Day 167 of the trial, Athens, June 2017. The testimony of witness Marios Lolos, president of the Union of Press Photographers of Greece (<a href=\"http:\/\/goldendawnwatch.org\/?p=3456&amp;lang=en\">full report<\/a>):<\/p>\n<p><em>The witness stated that Golden Dawn holds a military view, which he hasn\u2019t seen in any other political party, saying that the only harassment he has witnessed is by Golden Dawn and riot police units. As he said, he has gone to photograph conflicts in war zones and the place he almost got killed was Syntagma Square [in Athens]. He referred to another incident, a few hours after the murder of [Pavlos] Fyssas in Keratsini, when \u201cconcerned citizens\u201d stood next to the riot police units and were throwing stones. From the slogans they used he surmised they were members of Golden Dawn.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u201cGolden Dawn and the police speak the same language of violence,\u201d Lolos tells me, adding that countless numbers of his fellow photojournalists have either been beaten or documented the beatings of their colleagues by both forces. The longtime photojournalist, who has covered combat in Bosnia, Kosovo, and the Gaza Strip, motions for my hand. I touch the inch-deep crater near the crown of his skull. \u201cIt was as if my camera was a Molotov cocktail,\u201d he sighed, before recounting the April 2012 demonstration in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2011\/jun\/19\/athens-protests-syntagma-austerity-protests\">Syntagma Square<\/a> when a riot police officer charged at him, baton upraised and flipped upside down so that the metal handle would strike instead of the rubber. He filed a police report following the <a href=\"https:\/\/rsf.org\/en\/news\/riot-police-deliberately-attack-journalists-covering-street-demonstrations\">life-threatening assault<\/a>, but it never saw the light of day.<\/p>\n<p>Like Lolos, Kostis Papaioannou, who is former chairman of Amnesty International\u2019s Greek office and general secretary for Transparency and Human Rights, cites a \u201cpattern of impunity\u201d in the Greek police force (who, it\u2019s important to note, have shown <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jacobinmag.com\/2016\/01\/golden-dawn-fascist-nazi-trials-pavlos-fyssas-murder-greece\/\">massive electoral support<\/a> for Golden Dawn). \u201cWe have strong indication of collaboration between several police units and Golden Dawn members in the streets,\u201d Papaioannou says, referring to the <a href=\"http:\/\/rvrn.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Report_2016eng.pdf\">findings<\/a> of the Racist Violence Recording Network (RVRN), the independent initiative that he co-founded in 2013. An investigation by Amnesty International, entitled \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amnesty.org\/en\/latest\/news\/2014\/04\/impunity-excessive-force-and-links-extremist-golden-dawn-blight-greek-police\/\">A Law Unto Themselves<\/a>,\u201d found the same. \u201cThe Golden Dawn debacle is only the tip of the iceberg,\u201d the 2014 report reads, \u201cEntrenched racism, excessive use of force and deep-rooted impunity are a blight on the Greek police. Successive Greek governments have so far failed to acknowledge, let alone tackle, these human rights violations by police and on-going impunity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_257028\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-257028\" src=\"https:\/\/lareviewofbooks-org-cgwbfgl6lklqqj3f4t3.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/3.png\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lareviewofbooks-org-cgwbfgl6lklqqj3f4t3.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/3.png 618w, https:\/\/lareviewofbooks-org-cgwbfgl6lklqqj3f4t3.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/3-300x200.png 300w, https:\/\/lareviewofbooks-org-cgwbfgl6lklqqj3f4t3.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/3-272x182.png 272w\" alt=\"\" width=\"618\" height=\"412\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">\nDemonstration against the first bailout memorandum. Marios Lolos \/ Athens 2010<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>B. Entry to Parliament Did Not Diminish Activity<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Day 164, Athens, June 2017. The testimony of witness Athanasios Kourkoulas, a member of the movement \u201cDeport Racism\u201d (<a href=\"http:\/\/goldendawnwatch.org\/?p=3179&amp;lang=en\">full report<\/a>):<\/p>\n<p><em>According to the witness the criminal activity of Golden Dawn can be shown by its organized goal of hurting people, by its racist motives that aim to intimidate, \u201cby the violent evacuation of every square, every social space. With the creation of \u2018clean zones.\u2019\u201d The witness added that Golden Dawn has a history of such activities, as can be shown that even in the \u201980s a lot of attacks had taken place, and that \u201cTheir entry to parliament did not diminish their activity, on the contrary it increased it.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u00a0<\/em>\u201cWe may sometimes raise our hand this way,\u201d said Michaloliakos, gesturing the Sieg Heil for his 2,000-strong audience during a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-greece-crisis-dawn\/special-report-greeces-far-right-party-goes-on-the-offensive-idUSBRE8AB09F20121112\">Golden Dawn rally<\/a> in 2012. \u201cBut these hands are clean, not dirty. They haven\u2019t stolen.\u201d Papaioannou, who published the 2013 book <em>The Clean Hands of Golden Dawn<\/em>, hotly contests:<\/p>\n<p>They\u2019re not just far-right. Their origins are back in the main ideas of National Socialism. And when they entered parliament, they made little effort to cover up their direct reflection of German Nazism \u2014 except that they use double rhetoric, publicly referring to themselves as \u201cGreek nationalists.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Papaioannou points out that Golden Dawn\u2019s electoral successes had given them access to public funds as well as media spotlight; in turn, their dangerous platform gained some unsettling outward legitimacy. \u201cAfter the 2013 arrests, though,\u201d he says, \u201cthe parliament decided to withhold Golden Dawn\u2019s public financing because there was a contradiction in terms: How can we finance a party that could be proven guilty of fascist crimes tomorrow?\u201d Following the assassination of Pavlos Fyssas, government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou <a href=\"http:\/\/www.spiegel.de\/international\/europe\/pavlos-fyssas-murder-greeks-protest-rise-of-far-right-golden-dawn-a-923398.html\">told<\/a> <em>Spiegel Online<\/em> that \u201cnew measures will be passed urgently, to choke the actions of Golden Dawn,\u201d but the banning of the party is \u201cnot under consideration.\u201d There\u2019s the Greek constitution to consider and, as he told the reporter, \u201cThey would simply spring back again as the \u2018Silver Dawn\u2019 or something.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So, what happens when the political establishment and the police \u2014 not to mention, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/commentisfree\/2012\/sep\/23\/greece-golden-dawn-media-violence\">mainstream media<\/a> \u2014 don\u2019t act as a trusted line of defense against fascism? \u201cThe message that goes through is that we can afford to give political and legal coverage to the fascists,\u201d says Lolos, the photojournalist and trial witness. \u201cTo say \u2018very fine people on both sides,\u2019\u201d he adds, reflecting on Trump\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/08\/15\/us\/politics\/trump-charlottesville-white-nationalists.html?_r=0\">controversial response<\/a> to the\u00a0deadly Charlottesville rally, \u201cis to say that racist violence and agendas are tolerable, even forgivable.\u201d Now, he says, it\u2019s up to the citizen-led movements to \u201cshut those agendas down and keep them out.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>C. Tomorrow Will Be Someone Else<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Day 134, Athens, March 2017: The testimony of witness Elghandour Naim, President of the Muslim Association of Greece (<a href=\"http:\/\/goldendawnwatch.org\/?p=2907&amp;lang=en\">full report<\/a>):<\/p>\n<p><em>The witness referred to defendant <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/commentisfree\/2013\/sep\/01\/absurd-golden-dawn-hound-friend-court\">[Themis] Skordeli <\/a> [a former parliamentary candidate for Golden Dawn], saying that she wants Greece free of all immigrants, not just Asians and Africans. He added that if all immigrants were to leave Greece, Greeks would not be able to find fish in the market or cheap labor because Greeks go to university and don\u2019t become fishermen, something that drew sarcastic comments from the defense counsel (\u201cYes, before the immigrants came, Greeks didn\u2019t eat fish.\u201d) The witness also said that Golden Dawn\u2019s ideology changes \u201cby the hour.\u201d Today it\u2019s the immigrants, tomorrow will be someone else, and the day after still someone else.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u201cGolden Dawn\u2019s ultimate goal was to create the circumstances for a <a href=\"http:\/\/goldendawnwatch.org\/?p=3465&amp;lang=en\">minor civil war<\/a> in Greece,\u201d Papaioannou tells me, adding, \u201cThe communists, the anti-fascists, the immigrants and their supporters, the cosmopolitan political parties, the pro-Europeans, or any groups that oppose them might react, starting the fire.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I ask the human rights defender and trial monitor to comment on Trump\u2019s United States, in particular, the white supremacist terror that had recently unfolded in Charlottesville. \u201cYou might say that Greece is in a bad position with a Nazi party in parliament,\u201d he replies. \u201cBut, on the other hand, the United States has a far-right president, plus armed members of fanatic extremist groups. The issue of gun ownership in that country is an insult for the average European perception of what constitutes a normal state.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A headline from earlier in the week flashes through my mind: \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/ng-interactive\/2017\/oct\/02\/america-mass-shootings-gun-violence\">1,516 mass shootings in 1,735 days: America\u2019s gun crisis<\/a>.\u201d Suddenly, I have the mental image of the Las Vegas police discovering 23 firearms and hundreds of rounds of ammunition stockpiled inside 64-year-old Stephen Paddock\u2019s hotel suite, which the so-called \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2017\/10\/02\/lone-wolf-white-privlege-las-vegas-stephen-paddock\/\">lone wolf<\/a>\u201d had turned into a <a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2017\/10\/04\/intercepted-podcast-guns-before-country\/\">sniper tower<\/a> during the night of October 1, killing 59 people (including himself) and injuring more than five hundred. Ultimately, I recall Jail Golden Dawn\u2019s montage, especially the <a href=\"https:\/\/news.vice.com\/story\/vice-news-tonight-full-episode-charlottesville-race-and-terror\">footage<\/a> of 37-year-old white supremacist Christopher Cantwell vaunting his own mobile gun show inside his Charlottesville suite.<\/p>\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2017\/05\/31\/the-numbers-dont-lie-white-far-right-terrorists-pose-a-clear-danger-to-us-all\/\">Take heed<\/a><\/em><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u00a4<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lareviewofbooks.org\/contributor\/elle-kurancid\/\"><em>Elle Kurancid is an independent journalist and writer based in Cairo.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lareviewofbooks.org\/contributor\/marios-lolos\/\"><em>Marios Lolos is an Athens-based photojournalist and the president of the Union of Press Photographers of Greece.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u00a4<\/p>\n<p><em>Banner image:\u00a0Golden Dawn demonstration. Marios Lolos \/ Athens 2011<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Source: lareviewofbooks.org RIGHT NOW, Greeks who say Adolf Hitler was a \u201cgreat personality, like [Joseph] Stalin,\u201d and an American who thinks Benito Mussolini is quotable are politicking in the halls of power. From the streets of Athens to Charlottesville, their sinister references are alive and mercilessly kicking, as their followers chant about blood, honor, and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3835,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[81,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/goldendawnwatch.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/goldendawnwatch.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/goldendawnwatch.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goldendawnwatch.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goldendawnwatch.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3830"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/goldendawnwatch.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3830\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3836,"href":"https:\/\/goldendawnwatch.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3830\/revisions\/3836"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goldendawnwatch.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/goldendawnwatch.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goldendawnwatch.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goldendawnwatch.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}