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Hrisi Avgi (Greek:Χρυσή Αυγή English:Golden Dawn) was a Greek neo-Nazi party, espousing an anti-semitic, anti-capitalist and anti-immigrant philosophy. "Hrisi Avgi" is also the name of a newspaper and a magazine published by that party.

The leader of the party was Nikolaos Michaloliakos.

Hrisi Avgi described itself as "The Popular National Movement" , with the ideology of "Nation-Race" central to its platform. The party claimed to be comprised of "young people, workers, students, professionals, farmers, day-laborers and the unemployed."

The party's symbol was a red flag bearing a black meander pattern with white trim. Other symbols adopted by Hrisi Avgi members were the national emblem of Greece, the labrys and the Celtic cross.

Unlike the Hellenic Front, the Popular Orthodox Rally, and other traditionalist, patriotic and religious conservative movements, Hrisi Avgi openly espoused Nazi-like symbols and ideology, as well as putsch-style methods. The party also advocated much more radical policies in relation to immigration, irridenta and border issues.

History

In December 1980, Nikolaos Michaloliakos, a mathematician and former commando, and a group of devotees launched the Hrisi Avgi magazine. Michaloliakos was arrested for assaulting journalists covering the 1976 funeral of Evangelos Mallios, a policeman and Junta-era torturer who was assassinated by the Revolutionary Organization 17 November. Michaloliakos was later released due to technical issues related to his arrest. He was arrested again in 1978 as a member of a far-right extremist group, and sentenced to one year imprisonment in 1979 for illegally carrying guns and explosives.

While he he was in prison, Michaloliakos met the leaders of the Greek military junta of 1967-1974. During this period, he laid the foundations of the organisation Hrisi Avgi. The characteristics of the magazine and the organisation were clearly National Socialist. The publication of the magazine stopped in April 1984, when Michaloliakos joined the National Political Union, and took over the leadership of its youth section. In January 1985 he broke away from the National Political Union, and he founded the "Popular National Movement - Hrisi Avgi".

1991-1992

The party remained largely on the margins of far-right politics until the Macedonia naming dispute in 1991 and 1992. According to prominent party member (and current leader of Patriotic Alliance), Dimitrios Zaphiropoulos, "The first years of the 90s found the Greek nationalist movement at a quantitive increase never seen before, and also saw it enter the political mainstream. The agitation over national issues and the long ideological work, unseen to many, have borne fruit".

During that period, assaults against political opponents started to occur. It was reported in the left-leaning newspaper Eleftherotypia that, in October 10 1992, about 30 party members attacked students at the Athens University of Economics and Business. This reportedly occurred during a massive demonstration in Athens, against the usage of the name Macedonia by The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Around the same time, the first organised street gangs appeared under the leadership of Giannis Giannopoulos, a former military officer who was involved with the South African Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB) during the 1980s.

1992 and later

After the events of 1991 and 1992, Hrisi Avgi had gained a stable membership of more than 200 members, and Giannopoulos rose in importance within the party hierarchy. In April 1996, Giannopoulos was the speaker on behalf of the party at a pan-European convention of nationalist parties in Moscow, where he presented Vladimir Zhirinovsky with a bust of Alexander the Great for his birthday. In October 1997, he published an article in Hrisi Avgi newspaper calling for nationalist vigilantism against illegal immigrants and left-wingers.

Hrisi Avgi participated in the 1994 European Parliament election, gaining 7.264 votes nationwide, 0.11% of the votes cast.

A few members of Hrisi Avgi took part in the Bosnian War in 1995 as members of the Greek Volunteer Guard (GVG), which was part of the Drina Corps of the Army of Republika Srpska. A few GVG volunteers were present in Srebrenica during the Srebrenica massacre, and raised a Greek flag at a ruined church after the fall of the town. It is not clear whether the GVG participated in the massacres or not. Spiros Tzanopoulos, a GVG sargeant who took part in the attack against Srebrenica stated: "Myself, as well as many other Greek volunteers, belong to a particular political formation, we belong to Hrisi Avgi and that was the main reason we went up there".

The cover of the June 2, 1995 issue of the party's newspaper featured the activities of its members alongside the Chetniks, and the July 28, 1995 issue quotes a GVG volunteer as saying Hrisi Avgi was represented more than any other organisation or party at the GVG. Members of Hrisi Avgi participating in the GVG were decorated by Radovan Karadžić, however according to former Hrisi Avgi member Charis Kousoumvris, those that were decorated later left Hrisi Avgi.

The party participated in the 1996 legislative election, receiving 4,487 votes nationwide, 0.07% of the votes cast.

In 1998, a prominent party member, Antonios Androutsopoulos, known as Periandros, assaulted the left-wing student activist Dimitris Kousouris. The assault brought mainstream media attention to Hrisi Avgi. This, along with internal conflicts led some of its most extremist elements, such as Giannopoulos, to gradually fade from official party affairs. The party continued participating in the far-right edge of the political spectrum, holding rallies and marches.

Hrisi Avgi also participated in the 1999 European Parliament election, under an electoral alliance with the Front Line party of Kostas Plevris, gaining 48,532 votes nationwide; 0.75% of the votes cast.

During a 2005 gay pride parade in Athens, the party distributed fliers with homophobic content.

Disbandment

According to the leader of the party, the organization ceased to exist after December 1, 2005, due to clashes with anti-fascists. However, its members have been instructed to continue their activism within the Patriotic Alliance party. Hrisi Avgi and Patriotic Alliance are very closely linked. The leader of Patriotic Alliance, Dimitrios Zaphiropoulos, is former member of Hrisi Avgi's political council, and the leader of Hrisi Avgi, Nikolaos Michaloliakos, is a current leading member of Patriotic Alliance. Despite the official disbandment of Hrisi Avgi, activities by Patriotic Alliance's members are often attributed to Hrisi Avgi (even by themselves), creating confusion.

The newspaper and the magazine of the party continue to be published, and the organization's website continues to be updated, mainly to support Patriotic Alliance's activities.

Ideology

The Hrisi Avgi magazine described the Second World War as the "Great Ideological War", and at its constitutional charte, the newly formed party stated that Hrisi Avgi is

convinced that the truth and the right at the Great Ideological War lay with the party that was eventually defeated", and that the party is "trying to reveal the true nature of National Socialism despite the defamation and lies with which the winners of the war covered it.

According to the charte, "only Aryans in blood and Greeks in descent can be candidate members of Hrisi Avgi". The charte also said:

The Leader is unassailable and inviolete and is the supreme leader of the party. He stands above electoral procedures ... The national socialist Leader does not lie above or besides the People, he is not inside the People, he is the People itself, the People that has comprehended its historical destiny.

The charte defined a dress code and formalized the Roman salute for party members:

The national socialist salute at entering and leaving the party offices is mandatory. The salute must be given with vigour and vibrancy, never indolently or relaxed, as is behoved to the National Socialist Order. Dress that denotes militant spirit is mandatory. As such the following are suggested: khaki or gray shirt, black or khaki jacket, combat boots or boots. The dress is complemented by a tie and a small national socialist symbol which the party member is free to chose on.

At first, the party embraced neo-Pagan beliefs, believing them to be intermingled with National Socialism in accordance to Nazi mysticism:

Modern ideological carriers of the two religious currents are National Socialism as the ideological carrier of Paganism and Marxism and Liberalism as the ideological carriers of Judeo-Christianity.

Later, however, the party underwent ideological changes, accepting Orthodox Christianity. Michaloliakos stated:

It is a historical truth and a certain fact that (for better or worse) after the imposition of the Christian religion in Greece, the dynamic interaction of Christianity and Hellenism (which for long functioned against the latter) led to the formation of Greek Orthodoxy.

In an interview with the nationalist newspaper Eleutheros Kosmos, party leader Michaloliakos stated that the members of Hrisi Avgi are "uncompromising Nationalists.". He also said:

The ideology of our movement as is characteristically cited in our charter is Popular Nationalism. We believe in the Nation, the notion of the Nation first of all as a biological reality within the course of history, we believe in the grandeur and the superiority of Hellenic civilization. We want a just society that will be governed by the Worthy, and we are anti-Marxists as much as we are anti-capitalists.

Michaloliakos described Hrisi Avgi as

A movement that is firmly counter to the spirit of the French Revolution, the so-called "enlightenment", and those who generally created the industrial revolution. It is a 'revolt against the modern world', a revolution against all of the unfortunate things the industrial revolution created, which didn't have the intention of the people's welfare but rather profit.

The Who We Are section or the party's old website read:

The ideological and political character of our movement is without dispute Nationalism, but simultaneously Socialism as well. ... We campaign for a Greater Greece in a Free Europe, we campaign for the Fatherland and the People without remission and compromises.

The What We Want section of the website stated:

With only two words we believe in a New Policy, in a Policy truly National, that won't be dependent on big entrepreneurs and managers, who hold in bond the Political Parties of the establishment, that unfortunately direct the fortunes of our Nation. ... We believe in a Foreign Policy independent and proud, a Policy where Greece won't be a subordinate of America or any other foreigner..

The What We Believe section said:

Our prevalent Idea and Belief is Nation-Race. Above everything for us is Greek Blood and the National Legacy. Still yet we believe in a just State in which everyone will be equal next to the law and where the law will be held reverent by all. We campaign for the abolition of parliamentary immunity and for the prevalence of a just state and social peace in our Fatherland. We believe in a State where its rulers won't be composed of the clever who hold billions, who profligate at elections, but the genuinely Worthy and Accomplished. We believe in a new Hellenic Civilization rooted in the great and everlasting Legacy of our Race. We believe in a Hellenic Way of Life as opposed to the sordid and vulgar foreign-imported mores.

Activities

The party claimed to have local organisations in 32 Greek cities, as well as in Cyprus.

Rallies

Hrisi Avgi created the "Epitropi Ethnikis Mninis" (Commitee of National Memory), whose aim was to organise demonstrations in various national anniversaries. Epitropi Ethnikis Mninis organised, between 1996 and 2006, an annual march in Athens, on January 31, in memory of the three Greek officers who died during the 1996 Imia military crisis. According to the European National Front website, the 2006 march was attended by 2,500 people. Despite the disbandment of Hrisi Avgi, Epitropi Ethnikis Mninis (now led by Patriotic Alliance), continues its activities.

Epitropi Ethnikis Mnimis also organized an annual rally on June 17 in Thessaloniki, in memory of Alexander The Great. The 2006 rally was attacked by police, who forced the members of Hrisi Avgi and Patriotic Alliance to leave the area. According to the European National Front website, the police acted without any order of the state attorney.

Later the same day, members of Hrisi Avgi tried to protest by gathering inside the building of ERT3, a state-owned television channel. They tried to stop normal broadcasting. The police surrounded the building and arrested 48 of them. They were found guilty of carrying arms (Greek flags according to Hrisi Avgi), and were fined €500.

Eurofest 2005

In September 2005, Hrisi Avgi attempted to organise a festival called "Eurofest 2005 - Nationalist Summer Camp" at the grounds of a Greek summer camp. The planned festival depended on the participation of the German NPD, the Italian Forza Nuova and the Romanian Noua Dreapta, as well as Spanish and American neo-Nazi groups. The festival was banned by the government. The party claimed, and it was reported in the press, that this was due to the reaction of anti-fascist groups.

Violence by and against Hrisi Avgi

Members of Hrisi Avgi have been accused of carrying out acts of violence and hate crimes against immigrants, political opponents and ethnic minorities. Hrisi Avgi's offices have been attacked several times by anarchists and anti-fascists. Clashes between members of Hrisi Avgi and anti-fascists are not unusual.

In January 1998, Alexis Kalofolias, vocalist of the band The Last Drive, was attacked and suffered permanent damage to his right eye, losing 2% of his eyesight. It was reported in KLIK magazine and Eleftherotypia, that members of Hrisi Avgi were responsible for the attack.

In 2000, the Monastirioton synagogue of Thessaloniki, the memorial for Holocaust victims in Thessaloniki, and the Jewish cemeteries in Thessaloniki and Athens were vandalized by unknown suspects. According to anti-fascist groups, Hrisi Avgi's symbols were present at all four sites. This caused the KIS, the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece, the Coalition of the Left, of Movements and Ecology, the Greek Helsinki Monitor and others to issue statements condemning these acts.

The Cyprus chapter of Hrisi Avgi has been accused of attacks against Turkish Cypriots. One member of Hrisi Avgi was arrested for attacking Turkish-Cypriots and was released on November 4, 2005.

In November 2005, Hrisi Avgi's offices were attacked by a group of anti-fascists with molotov cocktails and stones. Unknown perpetrators responded to the anti-fascists with gunshots, and two people (who testified that they were just passing by) were injured. According to Hrisi Avgi, three suspects were arrested and set free. During the subsequent police investigation, molotov cocktails were discovered in Hrisi Avgi's offices. This attack was the stated reason for the organisation's disbandment.

In June 2006, three young members of Hrisi Avgi were attacked and severely injured by anarchists in Galatsi, Athens. Hrisi Avgi claimed they were attacked simply because they were wearing T-shirts with the Greek Flag. According to the police, at least one of the Hrisi Avgi members was known to the authorities because he had been involved in a similar incident a month earlier, in which he had injured a police officer who had tried to stop the violence. The same person had been reported by the police as a suspect in several cases of attacks against immigrants and anarchists in the area. After being attacked, he was in a coma for three weeks.

Football hooliganism

In 2000, members of the party formed the hooligan firm Galazia Stratia (Greek for "Blue Army"), which described itself as a "fan club of the Greek national teams." Following Hrisi Avgi's official disbandment in 2005, it has been reported that many former party members have put most of their energy into promoting Galazia Stratia.

Galazia Stratia was closely linked to Hrisi Avgi - before the latter's disbandment, the two shared the same street address. Hrisi Avgi made no attempt to deny the connections, openly praising the actions of Galazia Stratia in its newspaper and accepting praise in return from the firm.

Galazia Stratia and Hrisi Avgi have been accused of various acts of football-related violence. In September 2004, after a football match between Greece and Albania in Tirane (in which Greece lost 2-1), Albanian hooligans set fire on a Greek flag, and violence erupted against Albanian immigrants in various parts of Greece. Anti-fascist groups held Hrisi Avgi and Galazia Stratia directly responsible for the attacks.

According to Eleftherotypia, during the celebrations following the success of the national basketball team at the 2006 FIBA World Championship, Galazia Stratia members severely beat a young Palestinian and an elderly Bangladeshi.

The Periandros case

From 1998 to September 14, 2005 (when he surrendered to the authorities), Antonios Androutsopoulos, a prominent member of Hrisi Avgi better known as Periandros, was on the run for the June 16, 1998 attempted murder of three left-wing students, including Dimitris Kousouris, who was heavily injured. Androutsopoulos had been sentenced in abstentia to four years of prison for illegal weapon possession, while the attempted murder charges against him were still standing.

The authorities' failure to apprehend Periandros for seven years raised criticisms by the media. An article in the newspaper Ta Nea claimed that Periandros remained in Greece and evaded arrest, due to connections with the police. In a 2004 interview, the former minister of public order of PASOK, Michalis Chrysochoidis, claimed that such accusations were unfounded, and blamed the inefficiency of the Greek police. Until 2005, when Androutsopoulos surrendered, it was alleged that he had evaded arrest because he had been residing in Venezuela, where he fled after charges were pressed against him. His trial began on September 20, 2006, and he was convicted to 21 years in prison on September 25, 2006.

Allegations of connections to the Greek Police

In a 1998 interview with the newspaper Eleftherotypia, Georgios Romaios (the minister of public order at the time) alleged the existence of "fascist elements in the Greek police", and vowed to suppress them. In a TV interview that same year, Romaios again claimed that there was a pro-fascist group within the police force although he said it was not organized, and was only involved in isolated incidents. The same year, Eleftherotypia published a lengthy article called "The lower limbs of the police", which outlined connections between the police and neo-fascists. Dimitris Reppas, the PASOK government spokesman, strongly denied such connections.

However, the article quoted a speech by PASOK MP Paraskevas Paraskevopoulos about a riot caused by right wing extremists, in which he said:

In Thessaloniki it is widely discussed that far-right organisations are active in the security forces. Members of such organisations were the planners and chief executioners of the riot and nobody was arrested. A Special Forces officer, speaking at a briefing of Special Forces policemen that where to be on duty that day, told the policemen not to arrest anyone because the rioters were not enemies and threatened that should this be overlooked there would be penalties.

Before the surrender of Androutsopoulos, an article by the newspaper Ta Nea claimed that the Hrisi Avgi had close relationships with some parts of the Greek police force. In relation to the Periandros case, the article quoted an unidentified police officer who said that "half the force wanted Periandros arrested and the other half didn't". The article claimed that there was a confidential internal police investigation which concluded that:

1. Hrisi Avgi had very good relations and contacts with officers of the force, on and off duty, as well as with common policemen.
2. The police provided the group with batons and radio communications equipment during mass demonstrations, mainly during celebrations of the Athens Polytechnic uprising and during rallies by left-wing and anarchist groups, in order to provoke riots.
3. The connections of the group with the force, as well as connections with Periandros, largely delayed his arrest.
4. The brother of "Periandros", also a member of Hrisi Avgi, was a security escort of an unnamed New Democracy MP.
5. Most Hrisi Avgi members were illegally carrying weapons.

The newspaper published a photograph of a typewritten paragraph with no identifiable insignia as evidence of the secret investigation. In the article, the minister of public order, Michalis Chrysochoidis, responded that he did not recollect such a probe. Chrysochoidis also denied accusations that far right connections within the police force delayed the arrest of Periandros. He said that left-wing groups, described by him as "terrorist", such as the Revolutionary Organization 17 November, had similarly evaded the police for decades. In both cases, he attributed the failures to "stupidity and incompetence" on behalf of the force.

Hrisi Avgi claimed that rumours about the organisation having connections to the Greek police and the government were untrue, and said that the police had intervened in Hrisi Avgi's rallies and had arrested some its members many times while the New Democracy party was in power (for example, during the rally in Thessaloniki, in June 2006, and in a rally for the anniversary of the Pontian Greek Genocide, in Athens, again in 2006).

Footnotes

1. ^ From the former website of Hrisi Avgi Cite error: The named reference "oldsite" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
2. Greek Embassy (Consulate General, Los Angeles, USA) website
3. 8/12/2003 Article published on BBC News Online website
4. ^ 2/07/1998 article published in Eleftherotypia newspaper. (in Greek) Cite error: The named reference "IosHist" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
5. ^ 11/9/2005 article in To Vima newspaper. (in Greek) Cite error: The named reference "Vima" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
6. Hrisi Avgi's newspaper, 25/7/97
7. 27/9/1998 article published in Eleftherotypia. (in Greek)
8. 1998 article in Eleftherotypia.
9. Article published in "NIGMA" magazine about Hrisi Avgi. (in Greek)
10. Michas, Takis;"Unholy Alliance", Texas A&M University Press: Eastern European Studies (College Station, Tex.) pp. 22
11. ^ 16/07/2005 article in Eleftherotypia. (in Greek)
12. Results of the 1996 legislative election.
13. "Ta alla Kommata", Macedonian Press Agency information on the 1999 elections.
14. 27/06/2005 article in Eleftherotypia
15. ^ 01/12/05 article in www.in.gr (in Greek) Cite error: The named reference "Ingr" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
16. ^ Golden Dawn stops their activities, European National Front website Cite error: The named reference "ENF_disbandment" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
17. ^ Article in the website of Patriotic Alliance, stating that "those who contributed mostly in our political campaign were the youth of Hrisi Avgi".
18. 06/08/06 interview of Patriotic Alliance's municipal candidate posted 9 months after Hrisi Avgi's disbandment. (in Greek)
19. "Our ideology: God Religion" ("Η ιδεολογία μας: Θεός-θρησκεία"), Hrisi Avgi's newspaper, issue 57, October 1990
20. 18/6/2000 article in Eleftherotypia (in Greek)
21. "Proposals for a New Policy" ("Προτάσεις για μια Νέα Πολιτική"), Nikolaos Michaloliakos, 1992.
22. ^ 2006 interview of Michaloliakos published in Eleytheros Kosmos newspaper. Cite error: The named reference "MichaloliakosInterview" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
23. 11/5/2002 article in newspaper Ta Nea, about Hrisi Avgi's activities. (in Greek)
24. ENF gathers in Athens from the European National Front website.
25. Advertisement for the 2006 march, stating that it is organised by Patriotic Alliance.
26. ^ 48 Greek nationalists arrested from the European National Front website Cite error: The named reference "48arrested" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
27. ^ 18/6/06 article in newspaper Thessalia (in Greek) Cite error: The named reference "Thessalia" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
28. Hrisi Avgi's press release (in Greek)
29. 22/12/06 article in in.gr (in Greek)
30. ^ Hrisi Avgi press release (in Greek)
31. ^ Eleytherotypia's article about attacks by Hrisi Avgi. (in Greek)
32. ^ 20/11/05 article in in.gr (in Greek) Cite error: The named reference "Ingr20.11" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
33. 17/09/05 article in in.gr (in Greek)
34. ^ Article in magazine KLIK(in Greek)
35. ^ Central European Review - "Anti-Jewish Attacks"
36. Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece press release (in Greek). Also contains photographs of the dececrations.
37. Greek Helsinki Monitor press release (in Greek)
38. ^ trncinfo.com - "Fanatic Hrisi Avgi member released."
39. Assassination attempt against 3 young nationalists in Athens, European National Front website
40. ^ 04/08/06 Hrisi Avgi press release, contains an article from a Greek mainstream newspaper, Vradini. (in Greek) Cite error: The named reference "XApress2" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
41. ^ 10/9/2006 article in Eleftherotypia (in Greek)
42. ^ Nazis dressed up as fans, Eleftherotypia 1/12/2001
43. Galazia Stratia thanking Hrisi Avgi for the support
44. ^ The Yale Hippolytic - "More Than Just a Game"
45. A-Infos: Greece, Anarchist block at antiracist demo in Athens
46. ^ 17/04/2004 article in Ta Nea (in Greek)
47. 14/09/2005 article in newspaper Kathimerini
48. 14/09/2005 article in Eleftherotypia (in Greek)
49. 27/04/2004 article in Kathimerini (in Greek)
50. 14/09/2005 article in Kathimerini (in Greek)
51. 29/09/06 article in Eleftherotypia (in Greek)
52. 25/09/06 article in in.gr (in Greek)
53. Athens News Agency: Press Review in Greek, 98-06-29
54. ^ Eleftherotypia's article part 3 (in Greek)
55. Eleftherotypia article part 1 (in Greek)
56. Image from the article of Ta Nea

See also

• Nikolaos Michaloliakos
• Patriotic Alliance
• Dimitrios Zaphiropoulos
• Antonios Androutsopoulos
• Neo-Nazism in Greece
• Anti-Semitism in Greece

External links

• Template:Gr icon Official website of Hrisi Avgi
• Template:Gr icon Official website of Patriotic Alliance
• Template:Gr icon Official website of Hrisi Avgi's Youth Front

• Antisemitism
• Greek-language newspapers
• Greek magazines
• Greek nationalist parties
• Neo-Nazi organizations
• Newspapers published in Greece