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> how about "nazis for bush"?
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http://www.nizkor.org/ftp.cgi/people/b/bellant.russ/bellant.intro
Shofar FTP Archive File: people/b/bellant.russ/bellant.intro
Archive/File: people/b/bellant.russ bellant.intro From: cberlet at igc.apc.org (NLG Civil Liberties Committee) Newsgroups: alt.conspiracy Subject: Re: Bellant: Old Nazi Networks in US Message-ID: <1299600112 at igc.apc.org> Date: 12 Dec 92 02:27:00 GMT References: <1299600110 at igc.apc.org> 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 */ 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. -- Michael Pugliese