The Best of GRReporter
flag_bg flag_gr flag_gb

The dark face of the neo-Nazi "Golden Dawn"

24 April 2012 / 11:04:53  GRReporter
5005 reads

The neo-Nazi party "Golden Dawn" is following the so called "catlike tread" tactic in order to remain unnoticed and to be able to jump on its "prey". Like all members of the cats family who start walking on tiptoes when they see their victim, so does "Golden Dawn" announcing the election lists with its candidates on the 21st of April. It’s trying to show a friendly face and carefully conceals its dark, fascist, and often terrorist image. Thus, it attempts to show that it cares about ordinary people, while the election lists include close associates of the leader Nikolaos Mihaloliakos.

No one exactly knows the true identity of the people included in the bulletins of the extreme party, not even Nikoaos Mihaloliakos himself, who stated that "I do not know all the candidates, nor do I know how they ended up in the lists".

Naturally he did not say a word about the fact that many of the members and present candidates have been married in the past or are still married to immigrants. The joke that the supporters of racial "purity" are telling each other: "Foreigners out, foreign women inside" is also not created by chance.

Following the polls "Golden Dawn" changed its direction at the last moment: it almost denied its extreme past, it left behind the Nazi symbols and praises of Hitler, it ended the persecution of immigrants in Agios Panteleimonas, and it is now seeking with over 200 prospective members of parliament to obtain the votes of Greek citizens. As those who know the tactics and strategy of Mihaloliakos are saying, drawing up the lists has been done skillfully and it can fool unsuspecting voter.

So while everyone expected the lists to include many retired officers, in the end there were very few of them. Last on the list is the 88-year-old dismissed officer from the class of '48 Ilias Pappas, who, according Mihalolyakos "fought with the communist gang in Naoussa" and he was "one of the protagonists of the revolution of the 21st of April, 1967". (In 1967, the dictatorship of the colonels was established in Greece). Another colonel Polivios Zisimopoulos is the first in the list of party in Thessaloniki.

The great trick of "Golden Dawn" was that it opened its lists to those who were unfamiliar with its past operations, mainly from Agios Panteleimonas (an area in Athens, home to many illegal immigrants). And there's a reason behind this. Recently, the residents of Agios Panteleimonas noticed that the "Golden Dawn" was no longer as active in their area (i.e. it did not pursue the immigrants so ardently), and most importantly, they saw that Mihaloliakos as a municipal councilor has done nothing for them. Thus suspicion arose of the party activists, and it was so great that it forced the leader to include ordinary citizens in the lists who had no party activity, no fascist past, such as artisans, taxi drivers, fishermen, guards, bank clerks, farmers, traders, two or three journalists, an accountant, a builder, a government official, an employee in a private company and businessmen.

He also took off the lists the alleged party theoretician, one of the most vocal supporters of its ideas, Ioannis Perdikaris, perhaps because he had written in the 80s the ideological manifesto of "Golden Dawn" (now carefully hidden) with a red cover, eagle and runes used by the Nazis. It is also strange why another "hero" of the party, Antonis Androutsopoulos, nicknamed the "Blond" (who served a 5-year jail sentence for assaulting students with leftist beliefs) has left "Golden Dawn". Perhaps because, as members of the party said, after his release from prison two years ago, he accused through publications on the Internet the former leader of betraying him and his struggle.

Dedicated members of "Golden Dawn" call Mihaloliakos «Leader». The "Leader" stated that his profession is that of mathematician, although nobody knows whether he has ever worked as one. Sources indicated that for a few weeks he had worked at the former publishing company of George Koskotas whose counsel was by some mere chance his brother Takis Mihaloliakos (one of the lawyers of the defendant former Defence Minister Akis Tsohadzopulos). The third brother in the family Yiannis was Lieutenant-general.

Another veteran of the National-Socialism in Greece - Aristotelis Kalendzis, who served a 12-year sentence in Greek prisons for terrorist activities, also launched an unexpected attack of Mihaloliakos, saying that: "We Greeks, do not want to raise new leaders in place of the present ones, but we want to hang the current rules on the guts of those who raised them." Kalendzis started his activity immediately after the fall of the dictatorship, and together with Mihaloliakos he plays a leading role in attacks against leftist civilians.

Public insults and attacks

Mihalolyakos has carefully avoided including in the lists, candidates who have suddenly left the far-right party LAOS, fearing that they may be elected and then leave also "Golden Dawn". He has also not included prominent members of the party, who played a leading role in the clashes in Agios Panteleimonas. Thus off the election lists remained a candidate, accused of paedophilia, and another who was running for governor at the last local elections, and is currently in prison for the murder of an astrologer in Halandri.

Tags: neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn election lists candidates Nikolaos Mihalolyakos
SUPPORT US!
GRReporter’s content is brought to you for free 7 days a week by a team of highly professional journalists, translators, photographers, operators, software developers, designers. If you like and follow our work, consider whether you could support us financially with an amount at your choice.
Subscription
You can support us only once as well.
blog comments powered by Disqus