“The Führer of the German Reich, the visionary of New Europe, together with Eva Braun, committed suicide at 15:30 on April 30, 1945. On this very day, thirty-eight years later, we, the Greek national-socialists will stand straight, profering the eternal greeting and keep a minute’s silence. In our hearts the faith in Führer’s words will flare up and within one or two generations justice will be rendered. In our hearts the faith in victory is festering. The victory will be ours. This victory will mark the national-socialist cosmogony as well as the crash of the poisoner of all peoples, the international Judaism. The fight goes on, the future is ours.”

More Information

In the aforementioned text officially released by the far-right extremist party Golden Dawn (Chrisi Avgi), Greece’s third-largest political party in 2015, hate speech against Jews is evident. In antiwar demonstrations held by Golden Dawn the following antisemitic slogans were heard: “Ax and fire for the Jewish dogs”, as well as “Jews, murderers of the people”. One Golden Dawn MP had been a bass player in a Greek hard rock band called “Pogrom”. “Auschwitz”, one of the band’s songs, includes lyrics such as “fuck Anne Frank”, “fuck the tribe of Abraham”, “piss on the Wailing Wall”, “Judenraus”, and “Auschwitz, how much I love it”. Last but not least, Golden Dawn court records include cases of desecration of Jewish Holy places and Memorials. Closely related to the far-right antisemitism of Golden Dawn is the antisemitic book “Jews: the whole truth”, published by the politician Konstandinos Plevris, whose political career is closely related to the ideological concept and political course of Golden Dawn.

In 2007, following accusations expressed by the Greek Section of the Helsinki Group and members of the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece, Konstandinos Plevris was put on trial in 2007 on account of the antiracist law of 1979 (N. 927-1979). Although at the first trial he was found guilty and sentenced to prison, in 2009 the Court of Appeal pronounced him not guilty. This verdict triggered a wave of frustration and disappointment on behalf of Greek Judaism, whose faith in state institutions and justice was profoundly shattered.

In October 2020 the Criminal Court of Appeal ruled that the Golden Dawn party was operating as a criminal organization. Eighteen former party lawmakers – including party leader Nikos Michaloliakos – were found guilty of leading a criminal organization.

An independent and competent judicial system is necessary to legally pursue individuals and groups, whose preachings and actions disseminate antisemitic and racist feelings, thus undermining social peace and insulting peoples’ cultural and religious identity. Serious media devoted to truth and transparency could definitely boost liberalism and tolerance in a society.

References

(Source: Magazine “Chrisi Avgi”, cited in:  Papaioannou, K. As milisoume kathara gia tin Akrodexia, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung and Hellenic League for Human Rights, Athens, 2014, p. 24. Translated by M. Vassilikou, JMG)

Χρυσή Αυγή | Against antisemitism – Ενάντια στον αντισημιτισμό (article “Against antisemitism” on a blog about antisemitism and the memory of the Shoah in Greece & Europe, published on September 16, 2016)

ANNOUNCEMENT FOR THE NEW GOLDEN DAWN MEMBER IN PARLIAMENT

Georgiadou, V. (2019), I Akra Dexia stin Ellada 1965-2018, Athens, Kastaniotis.

Visuals

Ο Μιχαλολιάκος ηττήθηκε και απειλεί πως η Χρυσή Αυγή «θα επιστρέψει στους δρόμους» (article “Michaloliakos was defeated and threatens that Golden Dawn ‘will return to the streets’”, published on July 8, 2019)