BERLIN (JTA) -- Holocaust survivors welcomed Germany's decision
to ban one of its largest neo-Nazi organizations.
Announcing the ban of HNG, the "national organization for political prisoners and their relatives," German Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich said Wednesday that the organization's
real purpose is to assist far-right extremists in opposing
the democratic state.
"Holocaust survivors welcome
the ban ... as a sign of modern Germany's political maturity
and its clear determination to confront extremists in any
guise," Elan Steinberg, vice president of the American Gathering of Holocaust Survivors
and their Descendants, said in a statement responding to
the news.
A series of raids on HNG cells followed
the ban, and materials were seized as evidence at locations
in the states of Bavaria, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westfalia
and Rhineland Pfalz. HNG, which reportedly was founded in
1979 and had 600 members, was subjected to a search-and-seizure
operation last year, which revealed that the group was actively
working to undermine the democratic state, according to the
Interior Ministry.
Friedrich in his statement said that
the federal government had to stop HNG from bolstering the
aggressive, anti-democratic position of jailed right-wing
extremists.
"By rejecting the democratic
rule of law and glorifying Nazism, HNG was trying to bind
far-right criminals to 'the scene,' " he said. "HNG has contributed to the apparent radicalization of the neo-Nazi scene" through its solidarity with and financial support for criminals.
HNG has been assisting mainly younger
neo-Nazis. Another organization -- Stille Hilfe, or Silent
Aid -- has been helping accused or convicted Nazi war criminals
since 1951. Some observers say Stille Hilfe has helped accused
criminals evade justice.
Efraim Zuroff, Israel director of
the Simon Wiesenthal Center, recently told JTA that Stille
Hilfe is “symbolically important, but what their impact is
is hard to say.”
Steinberg said the impact of HNG was
not in doubt. Its "hate-filled worldview extends beyond antipathy to Jews to all minorities," he said. "History has shown us where such malignant attitudes can lead."
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