Status
Call number
Collections
Publication
Description
"In September 1992 Yaron Svoray, an Israeli journalist, was traveling in Germany when he met a young man, a skinhead, who, taking Svoray to be a sympathetic American and not realizing he was Jewish, introduced him to the semisecret world of German neo-Nazism. In a short time, Svoray contacted the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles and, with the center's backing, returned to Germany under the name of "Ron Furey," the American representative of a fictitious right-wing organization." "So began a remarkable and shocking series of encounters between Svoray and members of Germany's neo-Nazi underground. Putting himself at great personal risk and constantly fearing that his identity would be discovered, Svoray met - and documented with hidden cameras and recording devices - a terrifying array of believers both young and old whose reach, he was shocked to find out, extends throughout Germany and beyond. He came across brutal young skinheads; paramilitary training camps that have sent neo-Nazi fighters to support Croatian soldiers in the former Yugoslavia; a network of committed neo-Nazis who are using their money and connections to establish political organizations; and politicians of the far right who cloak their connections to the movement in nationalist rhetoric." "In Hitler's Shadow is a sobering report on the real threat that is posed by Germany's neo-Nazi movement, and a startling portrayal of the dangerous personalities behind it, told by a man of immense courage who has penetrated its heart of darkness."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved… (more)
User reviews
Svoray was horrified and decided after some soul-searching - to infiltrate the movement. His experiences are described in this riveting account. He solicited the support of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency which agreed to fund his undercover investigation. He disguised himself as an Australian newspaperman sympathetic to the neo-Nazi cause. Without a great deal of difficulty, mostly by asking reporters and police, he identified some of the fringe group, who led him to the core of the organization, which appeared to be more organized than German authorities were willing to admit. The neo-Nazis had strong ties to the Republikaner party, formed in 1983, dedicated to the elimination of foreigners and to a return of the more "pure Germanic ..nation" Svoray attended several parties attended by skinheads and more traditional supporters celebrating Nazi events and heroes. He learned that as many as 500 nouveau Hitler Jugend were fighting for the Croats (this was written in 1992) to learn guerrilla warfare techniques that could be used upon their return to Germany.
The question· everyone wanted answered was whether the 2,OOO-plus acts of violence. including the. murder of a German sea captain who was overheard calling Hitler a criminal, were random acts of the disaffected skinheads or an orchestrated campaign of violence to terrorize the country into adopting right-wing strategies.
The book reads like a detective novel, but I sometimes wondered about Svoray's sanity and investigative techniques. For example, I doubt if a serious spy would tape a genuine personal credit card and photograph of the wife and kiddies to his ankle while trying to impersonate someone else in the lairs of the enemy. Nor would a spy be likely to rent a car under his real name for any policeman to discover at the first traffic stop.
The ultimate value of Svoray's descent into the maelstrom is as yet unknown, although moving a fungus into the sunlight does have a sanitizing effect.