Archive/File: people/b/bellant.russ bellant.intro

From: cberlet@igc.apc.org (NLG Civil Liberties Committee)
Newsgroups: alt.conspiracy
Subject: Re: Bellant: Old Nazi Networks in US
Message-ID: <1299600112@igc.apc.org>
Date: 12 Dec 92 02:27:00 GMT
References: <1299600110@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.
	

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