Czech Interior Ministry presumes close ties between DSSS and neo-Nazis

The Czech Interior Ministry presumes the neo-Nazi movement is obviously gradually renewing its “symbiotic relationship” with the successor to the dissolved Workers’ Party (Dělnická strana -DS), the Workers’ Social Justice Party (Dělnická strana sociální spravedlnosti – DSSS). This is the conclusion of an analysis made available to the Czech Press Agency.

The document covers the situation in recent years during which some neo-Nazis turned away from the party after criticizing it for some time. It also describes the disunity inside the neo-Nazi movement. The Czech Interior Ministry presumes that the unity of the movement will evidently be renewed on the ideological basis of the concept of autonomous nationalism.

The ministry has been keeping files on neo-Nazi tendencies toward embracing the DS since 2007. Collaboration between the DS and neo-Nazis, according to the ministry, has created “a dangerous symbiosis between the militant and political wings of the Czech extreme right”. According to the authorities, the party has strengthened its electoral base, won significant support for its public events, and legitimized violence at those events.

However, the ministry also reports that the DS has faced criticism from the neo-Nazis from the beginning over the quality of the party program, its name and logo, and the way the DS presents itself to the public. “Arguments have been made that the DS, in its ‘neo-Nazi/skinhead’ form, is very far from a modern extreme-right party and rather evokes the violent racism of the 1990s, which makes them unelectable for the ordinary public,” the document reads.

The ministry says this criticism has lasted, but the opinion has always prevailed that despite its faults the DS is the “only possible pro-national opposition to the ‘System'”. Part of the neo-Nazi scene has turned away from the DS in the end and the party was dissolved by court order last February. The ministry says a significant portion of those representing the neo-Nazi scene feels it is impossible to expect any kind of shift in the DS, that the party is not exploiting its potential, not learning from its mistakes, and is incaable of self-reflection. Moreover, the neo-Nazi movement was paralyzed by police raids at that time as well.

The analysis warns that in addition there has been an ongoing debate on the future direction of the neo-Nazis scene. This particularly concerned a clash between the younger adherents of a modern concept of autonomous nationalism and the older neo-Nazis associated around the National Resistance (Národní odpor – NO).

The Autonomous Nationalists (Autonomní nacionalisté – AN), according to political scientists, have been inspired by the extreme left in many ways. For example, they have taken up the concept of autonomous groups without unified leadership in order to reduce the possibility of being infiltrated by state security forces and eventually prosecuted. They have also taken up the “black block” strategy, which is used during demonstrations. One impulse for the rise of the AN was an effort to distance itself from the skinheads movement. Political scientists say the AN are connected to the adoption of new style elements, such as graffiti, hip-hop, or punk, and do their best to be more attractive to young people. Their ideology is the same as that of the neo-Nazis.

The ministry says the conservative neo-Nazis accuse the AN of taking on left-wing elements, of being too liberal and open to other influences. “The turning away from Hitler’s concept of national socialism is perceived as betrayal and disrespect for the persons who laid down their lives in the fight against so-called ‘Jewish Bolshevism’ and fought for the freedom of Europe (understood as the German Nazi Army). The premeditated abandonment of violent actions in favor of activism and propaganda (graffiti, stickers) is perceived as a symbol of weakness and the main reason why the movement as a whole is losing authority and respect,” the ministry told the Czech Press Agency.

While the DS did not actively join the dispute between the AN and the neo-Nazis associated around the NO, it tends to agree with the NO promoters. The ministry says it was not surprising to see the AN distance itself from the DSSS on its former main website last spring while the NO website continued to support the DSSS. “That disunity in the neo-Nazi movement meant the DSSS lost the steady support and trust they had previously enjoyed,” the analysis says. According to the ministry, the neo-Nazi movement currently continues to be paralyzed by the police raids and on that basis is undergoing an internal transformation in favor of the AN.

A new report by the ministry on the situation in the area of extremism during 2010 makes similar claims. According to that report, the NO is losing its privileged position and its branches became inactive last year as they battled financial problems and personal disputes came to a head. On the other hand, the AN’s activities last year were “relatively unblemished”. The ministry report says the AN is slowly becoming the main force of the right-wing extremist scene.

The ministry analysis says that so far it does not seem that the DSSS “would be capable of undergoing a drastic rebirth into a modern, cultivated, extreme-right party opposed to the EU.” Nevertheless, the authorities say the leaders of both groups in the neo-Nazi movement are aware that it is necessary to reunite to renew the paralyzed scene. Despite the charges leveled against the DS, the ministry has not yet noted an effort by its critics to start their own party, and some AN members have remained loosely connected to the DSSS.