Neo-Nazi Muzak : Denmark, Germany… and Australia

2 in Denmark arrested over neo-Nazi music
The Associated Press
August 27, 2008

FRANKFURT, Germany: German investigators say Danish police have arrested two men as part of an effort to halt the production and distribution of neo-Nazi music.

Prosecutors in Frankfurt say the two men — a Dane and a German — were arrested in northern Zeeland on Wednesday.

Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet says the men were jailed for two weeks on a German extradition request. Prosecutor Arne Stevns was quoted as saying the Justice Ministry would decide on extradition. Stevns was not immediately reachable for comment.

The arrested men — identified only as Flemming C. and Stephan G. — are accused of overseeing the production and distribution of neo-Nazi music under the label Celtic Moon.

Investigators say the pair produced as many as 100,000 copies of the music.

Of even greater interest, Deutsche Welle reports that:

Two key figures in the right-wing music scene have been arrested in a major international operation. Police say the arrests, which follow three years of investigations, are a major blow to the extremist scene. A German and a Dane with ties to the right-wing music distributor Celtic Moon were arrested on Wednesday, Aug. 27, in Denmark, said Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA). The BKA said the arrests, the outcome of international cooperation, shook up the extremist music distribution scene, dispelling its sense of security. Flemming C. and Stephan G. have been accused of financing, commissioning and distributing recordings that have been deemed illegal because of their extremist content. They are presumed to have had contact [with] a partner in Australia, who allegedly copied the CDs and sent them to Denmark for distribution. The group reportedly produced CDs worth a five-figure sum. The accused allegedly have ties to German music groups, music managers and high-ranking members of the right-wing scene, including leaders of the far-right National Democratic Party (NPD). Authorities on Wednesday also investigated several individuals [from] Werwolf Records, a far-right music distributor with ties to Celtic Moon.

How about that eh? Note that Werwolf Records distributes Douglas Schott‘s Newcastle-based band Blood Red Eagle.

Locally, neo-Nazi titles — Blood Red Eagle (AUS), Bound For Glory (UK not US), Fortress (AUS), Legion of St. George (UK), Retaliator (UK), Skrewdriver (UK) and the incomparable Southern Storm (”Niggers, Jews and Communists / Look out scum, you’re on our list!”) — are available through Snapshot Records in Sydney. (Oddly, Snapshot also endorses Class War — and, presumably, Class War endorses Snapshot; or at least, the use of its logo.) Other distributors include Scythian Sevices (which deals exclusively in neo-Nazi muzak) and Deadset Music, which stocks a small range of fascist / neo-Nazi / RAC and white power music — including but not limited to Bakers Dozen, Battle Scarred, Combat 84, Condemned 84, Hateful, Kampfzone, Knockdown, Les Villains, Marching On, Retaliator, Scum, Tattooed Motherfuckers, The Gits and Unit Lost.

In June, police raided a property outside Bathurst belonging to David Pollard, the owner of neo-Nazi online store Noble Front. To the best of my knowledge, charges are still pending.

In just a few weeks, on Saturday September 13, neo-Nazis will be gathering in Melbourne to commemorate the death of Skrewdriver lead shouter Ian Stuart Donaldson. Performing will be local boneheads Blood Red Eagle and Ravenous, and a neo-Nazi band from overseas (almost certainly from either the UK or US). Last year, the Melbourne Croatia Social Club played host to US band Final War, Melbourne bands Bail Up! and Fortress and Perth band Quick and the Dead. The latter band features Murray Holmes, formerly of Skrewdriver. Murray is making a minor comeback with the assistance of another Perth punk band called The Homicides — The Homicides are also releasing a split album with Sydney band T.H.U.G., which features two former members of the 1980s neo-Nazi band White Lightning. The East Brunswick Hotel provided a stage for T.H.U.G. in July, when the band supported English band Sham 69.

“Keep on keeping on against the Bonehead scum that stand for nothing but cowardice. When you think of the Australian blood given in the fight against Fascism in WW2 it must have old soldiers turning in their graves at the site of Neo Nazi scum playing gigs in your town. Always stand firm against this threat. FUCK FASCISM.” ~ Roddy Moreno, The Oppressed, June 11, 2007

Much further afield, in Russia, “Police in Oryol, Russia refused to properly investigate an arson attempt that nearly took the lives of the family of a local human rights activist who has received numerous death threats from neo-Nazis, according to a statement by the intended victim, Dmitry Krayukhin” (Police in Oryol, Russia Refuse to Properly Investigate Probable Neo-Nazi Arson, UCSJ, August 27, 2008). Thankfully, the handful of death threats I’ve received aren’t supported by a large fascist movement, and boneheads are both few and far between and generally very quiet. On the other hand, local neo-Nazis can rely on the support of a handful of local punks and Skinheads Neither For Nor Against Racial Prejudice, one of whom, Doug Smith (of local band Bulldog Spirit) late last year published what he believed to be my work address on a forum thread dedicated to discussing the annual Ian Stuart Donaldson memorial gig (one accompanied by threats of violence).

‘It’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt’, as they say.

The gig itself is being organised by local chapters of international neo-Nazi networks Blood & Honour and the Hammerskins. Recently:

A white power band called The Caucasoids, accompanied by an apparent minor and boasting the threatening symbol of a hangman’s noose, played the Independence Day concert put on a day late at a secret location in Orlando, Fla. The concert, entitled The Fourth Fest, was thrown by the Confederate Hammerskins, a Southern division of the notoriously violent Hammerskin Nation. Only the lead singer (second from left), Coby Stonecypher of Chuluota, Fla., has been identified. The concert was the second Hammerskin show of the year in Florida, following a “St. Patty’s Day” concert that took place on March 17 in Tampa. The Hammerskins, and especially the Confederate Hammerskins, have been growing recently after a period of relative stagnation, rising from nine chapters in 2006 to 14 chapters last year.

The above article is lifted from the latest # (131, Fall 2008) of the Southern Poverty Law Centre’s Intelligence Report, a very useful compilation of reportage on racist groups and movements in the US.