Fascists mark 1933 day

Press, 1 February 1983, Page 9

Fascists mark 1933 day

NZPA Mainz About 200 mostly youthful neo-Nazis celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the day Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of the Third Reich with fascist salutes, fifes and drums. They assembled on the grounds of a nursery owned by a notorious neo-Nazi with a display of his pro-fascist activity. One of the leaders of the group was Michael Kuehnen. aged 28. the self-styled chairman of a neo-Nazi organisation and former West German Army lieutenant who was sentenced to four years in prison in 1979 after having

been found guilty of inciting racial hatred, chauvinism, and spreading illegal propaganda. He was also accused of bank robberies and ammunitions theft. The police threw a cordon around the property to prevent demonstrators from attacking the neo-Nazis inside the nursery. The display of Nazi emblems and the Hiller salute are prohibited by West German law. West German courts have sentenced offenders to fines of up to $5OOO. The West German Interior Ministry last year reported

the membership of 73 extremist Right-wing groups to be 20.300 in 1981 or 500 more than in 1980. On the increase was also the number of neoNazi crimes: 1824 in 1981 or 181 more than in 1980. Generally, West Germans have marked the anniversary — January 30 — with a mixture of quiet reflection on the past and an anxious look forward to dangers facing their modern democracy. In West Berlin the Chancellor. Dr Helmut Kohl, urged his compatriots to heed the lessons of 1933 when Hitler became Chancellor and said they could not shirk responsibility for the past.

"Too many (democrats) shirked their responsibility for bitter truths and painful consequences ... the decay of power was first of all a decay in responsibility. "In the name of Germany, the face of humanity was shamed. Remembrance and grief will have been fruitful if out of them grows responsibility." he said. Thousands of West Germans gathered at other meetings throughout the country where some politicians used the occasion to accuse their election opponents of endangering democracv.