Matthias Koehl
American neo-Nazi
Matthias Koehl | |
|---|---|
| 2nd Commander of the American Nazi Party | |
| In office August 25, 1967 – October 9, 2014 | |
| Preceded by | George Lincoln Rockwell |
| Succeeded by | Rocky Suhayda |
| 2nd and 4th leader of the World Union of National Socialists | |
| In office April 9, 2009 – October 9, 2014 | |
| Preceded by | Colin Jordan |
| In office August 25, 1967 – 1968 | |
| Preceded by | George Lincoln Rockwell |
| Succeeded by | Colin Jordan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Matthias Koehl Jr. (1935-01-22)January 22, 1935 Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Died | October 9, 2014(2014-10-09) (aged 79) Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Political party | National Renaissance Party United White Party National States' Rights Party American Nazi Party |
| Alma mater | University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee |
| Occupation | United States Marine, politician, writer |
Matthias Koehl Jr. (January 22, 1935 – October 9, 2014) was an American marine, neo-Nazi politician and writer. He succeeded George Lincoln Rockwell as the longest serving leader of the American Nazi Party, from 1967 to 2014.
Like the Chilean diplomat Miguel Serrano, Koehl was influenced by the occultism of the Greek–French writer Savitri Devi. He was also a close friend of the Dutch World War II Nazi collaborator Florentine Rost van Tonningen.
Early life
Born on January 22, 1935, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Hungarian immigrants of German descent, Koehl studied journalism at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee[1] and played violin with the civic opera. A teenage antisemitic activist, Koehl worked with hate groups on the East Coast and the South before joining George Lincoln Rockwell's infamous American Nazi Party and the Marine Corps.[2]
Politics
Koehl joined James Madole's National Renaissance Party, the United White Party and the National States' Rights Party, before joining the American Nazi Party in 1960.[citation needed]
In 1953, he claimed to have met with the poet and fascist activist Ezra Pound during Pound's imprisonment at St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington, DC. In 1957, he became secretary-treasurer of the committee to Free Ezra Pound. Pound gave Koehl several signed volumes of his poetry during this period, signing them "Matthias Koehl / HEIL / Ezra Pound / 1953".[3]
In August 1967, formerly a deputy commander,[4] Koehl succeeded the assassinated Rockwell as commander of the National Socialist White People's Party, known until December 1966 as the American Nazi Party.[5] In 1983, Koehl renamed the organization "New Order". At the end of his life, Koehl was the leader of the World Union of National Socialists, despite his affiliation with Esoteric Nazism having alienated some members. Although he maintained a low public profile, Koehl granted an interview to the mainstream writer William H. Schmaltz in Arlington, Virginia, in April 1996 during the preparation of Schmaltz' biography of Rockwell.[citation needed]
Death
Koehl died in the night between October 9 and 10, 2014, at the age of 79 of complications related to cancer.[6]
Works
- Some Guidelines to the Development of the National Socialist Movement (1969)
- The Future Calls (1972)
- The Program of the National Socialist White People's Party (Cicero, IL: NS Publications, 1980)
- Faith of the Future (1995)
References
- ^ Milwaukee Journal, September 4, 1967.
- ^ "Old Berlin". Milwaukee Magazine. December 1, 2008. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
- ^ Hanson, Bradford (June 20, 2017). "Matt Koehl and Ezra Pound: The Untold Story". National Vanguard. Retrieved January 4, 2023.
- ^ "Nazi Chapter to Celebrate Hitler Birthday". The Free Lance-Star. Vol. 83, no. 88. Associated Press. April 14, 1967. p. 3. Retrieved August 3, 2011 – via Google News.
- ^ "Nazi Party Changes Name". The Free Lance-Star. Vol. 82, no. 297. Associated Press. December 19, 1966. p. 8. Retrieved August 2, 2011 – via Google News.
- ^ "Longtime Neo-Nazi Matthias "Matt" Koehl Dies". Southern Poverty Law Center. October 13, 2014.
Sources
- Goodrik-Clarke, Nicholas (2001). Black Sun: Aryan Cults, Esoteric Nazism and the Politics of Identity. NYU Press. p. 2. ISBN 0-8147-3155-4.
- Schmaltz, William H. (2000). Hate: George Lincoln Rockwell and the American Nazi Party. Brassey's. p. review 1. ISBN 1-57488-171-X.
- Simonelli, Frederick J. (1999). American Fuehrer : George Lincoln Rockwell and the American Nazi Party. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0-252-02285-8. and ISBN 0-252-06768-1
- Goodrick-Clarke, Nicholas (1998). Hitler's Priestess: Savitri Devi, the Hindu-Aryan Myth, and Neo-Nazism. NYU Press. ISBN 0-8147-3111-2.
External links
- New Order webpage
- "Who is Hitler?". Archived from the original on September 1, 2004. Transcript of remarks by Matt Koehl.
- Saleam, Jim. "Chapter 5. Populism And Socialism In American Nazism". American Nazism In The Context Of The American Extreme Right: 1960–1978.
- Barrett, H. Michael. "Pierce, Koehl and the National Socialist White People's Party Internal Split of 1970". Heretical.
- Dobratz, Betty A.; Shanks-Meile, Stephanie. "THE KU KLUX KLAN AND THE AMERICAN NAZI PARTY: CASE STUDIES IN TOTALITARIANISM AND FASCISM". Transforming Sociology (125). Red Feather Institute. Archived from the original on August 29, 2004. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
- Neo-Nazis: Longtime Hitlerian Activists on the Anti-Defamation League's website.
- FBI files obtained under the FOIA, hosted by the Internet Archive:
- Chicago FBI office file part 1
- Chicago FBI office file part 2
- Chicago FBI office file part 3
- Chicago FBI office file part 4
- Chicago FBI office file part 5
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