Career as a Neo-Nazi
In 1978, Lauck shot and wounded his brother Jerry following a political dispute. [3] He eventually moved to Chicago, where he spent most of his adult life. [3] Since 2009, Lauck has lived in Fairbury, [4] Nebraska. [5] Prior to that, he resided in Lincoln, Nebraska.
As the leader of the NSDAP/AO, Lauck maintained close contact with like-minded individuals and groups in Europe, including Michael Kühnen, with whom he collaborated closely from the 1970s. [1] His connections to leaders and members of the German neo-Nazi scene date back to 1971 when, at just 18 years old, Lauck established the Auslandsorganisation (Overseas Organization) of the National Socialist Combat Groups. This militant German neo-Nazi group was swiftly banned by the West German government, leading to the formation of Lauck's NSDAP/AO. [6]
A noted Germanophile, Lauck sported a toothbrush moustache and regularly used the Nazi salute as his greeting. [1] His speech impediment has often been mistaken for an affected German accent. [2] Although based in the United States, Lauck spent much of his time as an activist in Europe, particularly in the early 1990s, when the NSDAP/AO significantly expanded its network of contacts. He published large volumes of neo-Nazi literature in several languages and distributed computer disks containing detailed bomb-making instructions through a network of European collaborators. [1]
In 1990, Lauck facilitated a partnership between the NSDAP/AO and the Swedish neo-Nazi group Sveriges Nationella Forbund, which played a key role in forming the "Nordic National Socialist Bloc" alongside activists in Norway. [7] That same year, he played a pivotal role in assisting Kühnen, Gottfried Küssel, and Christian Worch in establishing a network of Gesinnungsgemeinschaft der Neuen Front cells across the former East Germany after German reunification. [8]
Two years later, the NSDAP/AO reached an agreement with the National Socialist Movement of Denmark, which had previously been a prominent member of the rival World Union of National Socialists (WUNS). This shift followed the expulsion of Povl Riis-Knudsen, a leading figure in WUNS, from the Danish Nazi movement after he married a Palestinian woman. [7]
During the early days of the Yugoslav Wars, Lauck's journal New Order published a series of articles supporting Croatia, with particular sympathy expressed for the Ustaše. The magazine played a significant role in recruiting neo-Nazi-linked mercenaries to fight for the Croatian cause. [9]
In 1995, Lauck was arrested in Denmark, sparking a far-right campaign in the United States opposing his extradition to Germany, where he was wanted for distributing neo-Nazi propaganda. [10] Despite these efforts, Lauck was deported to Hamburg, where he was tried and convicted of disseminating neo-Nazi pamphlets. He was sentenced to four years in prison. [11]
Lauck was released on March 19, 1999, and subsequently deported back to the United States. [12] He now operates Third Reich Books, which continues to distribute Nazi paraphernalia online. [13]
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