National Socialist League (United States)

Last updated
National Socialist League
Leader Russell Veh
Founded1974 (1974)
Dissolved1984 (1984)
Headquarters Los Angeles, California
NewspaperNS Mobilizer
Ideology Neo-Nazism
White supremacism
Political position Far-right

The National Socialist League (NSL) was a neo-Nazi organization of gay men in the United States that existed from 1974 until 1984. It was originally founded by Jim Cherry, but was quickly taken over by Russell Veh, a neo-Nazi and transplant to Los Angeles, California, from Ohio. [1] Veh financed the party using the profits from his printing business. He also financed the league with a film distribution unit that specialized in Nazi propaganda films, including Triumph of the Will . The National Socialist League had chapters in various parts of California, and implied in their mass mailing on July 4, 1978, that they had established an offshoot organization in Manhattan. [2] [1] [3]

Contents

History

An advertisement for the National Socialist League in the leather magazine Drummer circa 1975 National Socialist League 1975.png
An advertisement for the National Socialist League in the leather magazine Drummer circa 1975

The league was founded in 1974 by Jim Cherry and several other California-based neo-Nazis. [4] Early reports suggest that there were as many as 400 members of the National Socialist League in San Francisco, [1] and organized across city and state lines. [1]

The National Socialist League was unique in restricting its members to gay men. The group distributed membership applications declaring NSL's "determination to seek sexual, social, and political freedom" for Aryans. [5] It argued that gay men had a role in maintaining the "white race" and that they were meant to be a military and cultural vanguard. They summarized this position in their 12-point credo.

The National Socialist League placed advertisements identifying themselves as the Gay Nazis that included their phone number in order to recruit new members during 1974 and 1975 in the classified ad section of the San Francisco gay newspaper the Bay Area Reporter . [6] The NSL also advertised in the leather magazine Drummer , despite apprehension and personal dislike of Nazism by editor Jack Fritscher. [7] The ad contained the slogan "Tomorrow Belongs to You!", an ironic reference to the song "Tomorrow Belongs to Me" in Cabaret, a 1972 film about the rise of Nazism in 1930s Germany, popular with gay men for its inclusion of LGBT characters. [8]

In 1977, NSL applied for a free table at the Los Angeles Gay Pride Parade and was refused, marking a break from event organizer Christopher Street West's policy of total non-exclusion. This resulted in major debates within the community and coalesced in 1978 when Christopher Street West reversed its stance and stated that as a private organization they could act to endorse their community principles. [4]

During its span of operation, the National Socialist League put out a journal called NS Kampfruf, later renamed NS Mobilizer. [9] The magazine contained Nazi rhetoric as well as drawings of scantily clad Schutzstaffel soldiers with swastikas covering their genitals to emphasize the "sexual trip" described by the recruiting pitch. [10]

The NSL stirred a controversy in 1983 when it attempted to market the infamous 1930s Nazi anti-Semitic film Jud Süß ("Süss the Jew") which had been pirated by the group. An article in the Los Angeles-based Heritage and S.W. Jewish Press, titled "'Gay Nazis Peddling Vile 'Jud Suss' Film", named Veh and the National Socialist League as responsible for pushing it, and film distributor David Calbert Smith III told the S.W. Jewish Press they were familiar with Veh's piracy. [11]

The National Socialist League disappeared in 1984, after which its periodical the NS Mobilizer was renamed to Race & Nation. Although Race & Nation was still edited by Russell Veh and distributed by his World Service, it stopped discussing the NSL and sexuality altogether. [12]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bear (gay culture)</span> Term for hairy and large men in LGBT community

In gay culture, bear is a term for men who are large, hairy, or both.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leather subculture</span> Subculture involving leather garments

Leather subculture denotes practices and styles of dress organized around sexual activities that involve leather garments, such as leather jackets, vests, boots, chaps, harnesses, or other items. Wearing leather garments is one way that participants in this culture self-consciously distinguish themselves from mainstream sexual cultures. Many participants associate leather culture with BDSM practices and its many subcultures. For some, black leather clothing is an erotic fashion that expresses heightened masculinity or the appropriation of sexual power; love of motorcycles, motorcycle clubs and independence; and/or engagement in sexual kink or leather fetishism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Nazi Party</span> Fascist political party in the United States

The American Nazi Party (ANP) is an American far-right and neo-Nazi political party founded by George Lincoln Rockwell and headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. The organization was originally named the World Union of Free Enterprise National Socialists (WUFENS), a name to denote opposition to state ownership of property, the same year—it was renamed the American Nazi Party in order to attract 'maximum media attention'. Since the late 1960s, a number of small groups have used the name "American Nazi Party" with most being independent of each other and disbanding before the 21st century. The party is based largely upon the ideals and policies of Adolf Hitler's Nazi Party in Germany during the Nazi era, and embraced its uniforms and iconography.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lion Feuchtwanger</span> German writer

Lion Feuchtwanger was a German Jewish novelist and playwright. A prominent figure in the literary world of Weimar Germany, he influenced contemporaries including playwright Bertolt Brecht.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Veit Harlan</span> German film director and actor (1899–1964)

Veit Harlan was a German film director and actor. Harlan reached the highpoint of his career as a director in the Nazi era; most notably his antisemitic film Jud Süß (1940) makes him controversial. While viewed critically for his ideologies, a number of critics consider him a capable director on the grounds of such work as his Opfergang (1944).

Fascist symbolism is the use of certain images and symbols which are designed to represent aspects of fascism. These include national symbols of historical importance, goals, and political policies. The best-known are the fasces, which was the original symbol of fascism, and the swastika of Nazism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Tommasi</span> American neo-Nazi

Joseph Charles Tommasi was an American Neo-Nazi who founded the National Socialist Liberation Front. He advocated extremism and armed guerrilla warfare against the U.S. government and what he called its "Jewish power structure." Tommasi wanted anarchy and lawlessness so that the "system" could be attacked without protection. Tommasi was derisively nicknamed "Tomato Joe" by rival neo-Nazis because of his Italian heritage and "less than Nordic complexion." He was later expelled from the group for using drugs and misusing group funds.

NSL may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Format18</span> Russian far-right extremist group

Format18 was a Russian neo-Nazi group based in the city of Moscow. It was led by Maxim Sergeyevich Martsinkevich, and had close relations with the political party National Socialist Society.

<i>Jud Süß</i> 1940 Nazi German film

Jud Süß is a 1940 Nazi German historical drama and propaganda film produced by Terra Film at the behest of Joseph Goebbels. It is considered one of the most antisemitic films of all time. The film was directed by Veit Harlan, who wrote the screenplay with Eberhard Wolfgang Möller and Ludwig Metzger. The leading roles were played by Ferdinand Marian and Harlan's wife Kristina Söderbaum; Werner Krauss and Heinrich George played key supporting roles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Fritscher</span> American writer

John Joseph "Jack" Fritscher is an American author, university professor, historian, and social activist known internationally for his fiction, erotica, and nonfiction analyses of pop culture and gay male culture. An activist prior to the Stonewall riots, he was an out and founding member of the Journal of Popular Culture. Fritscher became highly influential as editor of Drummer magazine.

Russell Raymond Veh was the head of the San Diego based neo-Nazi organization World Service. From the early 1970s through the 1990s, Veh edited and distributed neo-Nazi and racist propaganda books, periodicals, and films around the world by mail. By 1990, he was "one of the largest purveyors of white supremacist information in the country." Veh also served as leader of the gay neo-Nazi National Socialist League from 1974 until its dissolution in 1984.

Nazism in Sweden has been more or less fragmented and unable to form a mass movement since its beginning in the early 1920s. Several hundred parties, groups, and associations existed from the movement's founding through the present. At most, purely Nazi parties in Sweden have collected around 27,000 votes in democratic parliamentary elections. The high point came in the municipal elections of 1934 when the Nazi parties were victorious in over one hundred electoral contests. As early as January 22, 1932, the Swedish Nazis had their first public meeting with Birger Furugård addressing an audience of 6000 at the Haymarket in Stockholm.

Drummer is an American magazine which focuses on "leathersex, leatherwear, leather and rubber gear, S&M, bondage and discipline, erotic styles and techniques." The magazine was launched in 1975 and ceased publication in April 1999 with issue 214, but was relaunched 20 years later by new publisher Jack MacCullum with editor Mike Miksche.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Hurles</span> American pornographer (died 2023)

David Randolph Hurles was an American gay pornographer, whose one-man company, run from a private mailbox, was called Old Reliable Tape and Picture Company. His work, produced primarily in the 1970s and 1980s, falls into three categories: photographs, audio tapes, and videotapes. Hurles' models were typically ex-convicts, hustlers, drifters, and ne'er do wells. Hurles died on April 12, 2023, at the age of 78.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caldron (sex club)</span> Gay sex club in San Francisco, California

The Caldron was a sex club for gay men located at 953 Natoma Street in San Francisco's South of Market neighborhood. It opened in 1980 and closed in 1984. It was called "the epitome of the uninhibited, abandoned, 'sleazy' sex club."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Al Shapiro</span> American cartoonist (1932–1987)

Allen J. Shapiro, better known as Al Shapiro and by his pen name A. Jay, was a gay Jewish American artist active from the 1960s through 1980s. He is credited with the creation of the first-ever gay comic strip, The Adventures of Harry Chess: The Man from A.U.N.T.I.E.

"Tomorrow Belongs to Me" is a song from the 1966 Broadway musical Cabaret, and the 1972 film of the same name, sung primarily by a Nazi character. It was written and composed by two Jewish musicians – John Kander and Fred Ebb – as part of an avowedly anti-fascist work; the nationalist character of the song serves as a warning to the musical's characters of the rise of Nazism. Nonetheless, "Tomorrow Belongs to Me" has been adopted by right-wing, neo-Nazi, and alt-right groups as an anthem.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Socialist Legion</span> Neo-Nazi hate group

The National Socialist Legion (NSL) is an American neo-nazi hate group. The group split off from Vanguard America in January 2018 due to accusations of ineffective leadership and infighting. The NSL has been active in around eight U.S. states, mainly distributing propaganda. According to the Anti-Defamation League, the group describes itself as a "revolutionary National Socialist organization" preparing for "the coming Racial Holy War." New members of the NSL are purportedly required to read white supremacist texts, including The Turner Diaries and Siege.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Goyim Defense League</span> American antisemitic hate group

The Goyim Defense League (GDL) is an American neo-Nazi antisemitic hate group and conspiracy theory network of individuals who are active on social media websites and operate an online video platform called GoyimTV. The GDL also performs banner drops, papering neighborhoods with flyers, and other stunts to harass Jews. The GDL emerged in 2018 and is led by the antisemitic provocateur Jon Minadeo II. GDL is currently tracked by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, National Socialist League Collection, Folder 6
  2. Kaplan, Jeffrey (2000). Encyclopedia of White Power: A Sourcebook of the Radical Right. p. 316. ISBN   978-0-7425-0340-3.
  3. Morgan, Kyle (2013). "Finding Aid to the National Socialist League Collection". Online Archive of California. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  4. 1 2 ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, National Socialist League Collection, Folder 1
  5. Newton, Michael (2007). The Ku Klux Klan: History, Organization, Language, Influence and Activities of America's Most Notorious Secret Society. p. 182. ISBN   978-0-7864-2787-1.
  6. Back issues of the Bay Area Reporter , available at the Main Library of the San Francisco Public Library, located at 100 Larkin St.
  7. Fritscher, Jack, and Mark Hemry. "Drummer 19: Astrologic Capricorn." Gay San Francisco: Eyewitness Drummer: a Memoir of the Sex, Art, Salon, Pop Culture War, and Gay History of Drummer Magazine, the Titanic 1970s to 1999, vol. 1, Palm Drive Pub., 2008, pp. 405–405.
  8. Fritscher, Jack (2017). Hemry, Mark (ed.). Gay Pioneers: How Drummer Shaped Gay Popular Culture 1965-1999 (PDF). Palm Drive Publishing. p. 128. ISBN   978-1890834173.
  9. Southern Poverty Law Center Intelligence Report, Fall 2000
  10. Kaplan, Jeffrey. "Russell Veh." Encyclopedia of White Power: a Sourcebook on the Radical Racist Right, Altamira Press, 2000, pp. 317–317.
  11. Heritage and S.W. Jewish Press, September 16, 1983
  12. University of Michigan Library, Joseph A. Labadie Collection, Section 1, HS 2330.N21 N13