it's just me.
SHMUCKS
Families Flee Neo-Nazi Rally
Sunday, Oct 5, 2008 6:08AM
Families living in a sleepy Somerset village were forced to flee their homes when a scooter festival sponsored by a record label turned out to be a Neo-Nazi gathering.
"It was like a miniature Nuremberg rally," mother-of-two Sarah Gooding told BBC News."I ran inside, burst into tears and said to my husband, 'We've got to go, I don't feel safe.' Our daughters were really, really frightened. They were in tears as we were packing our bag to flee."
Villagers at Redhill expected a scooter rally and were horrified when about 800 people turned up draped in Nazi flags.
"It was disgraceful behaviour. I was very upset that anyone can hold those views after what's happened in the past. I found it incredibly distressing and so did my family," said Debbie Johnson, another Redhill resident.
The two-day event at the end of September, which was organised by a record company called ISD, was a memorial concert for the 15th anniversary of the death of the former lead singer of a band called Skrewdriver.
But North Somerset Council, which granted it a temporary license, didn't realise Skrewdriver was a neo-Nazi band and that ISD describes itself as the world's "oldest and most dependable White Nationalist Movement CD label."
Avon and Somerset Police received dozens of complaints about festivalgoers swearing and urinating in people's gardens.
Some of the crowd reportedly marched through the street chanting, "Sieg Heil, Sieg Heil."
"If I knew that this would happen I would never have allowed it," said Ian Saunders, the manager of The Bungalow pub who had agreed to let the scooter fest take place on a two-acre site adjoining the premises. - John Gammon
Sunday, Oct 5, 2008 6:08AM
Families living in a sleepy Somerset village were forced to flee their homes when a scooter festival sponsored by a record label turned out to be a Neo-Nazi gathering.
"It was like a miniature Nuremberg rally," mother-of-two Sarah Gooding told BBC News."I ran inside, burst into tears and said to my husband, 'We've got to go, I don't feel safe.' Our daughters were really, really frightened. They were in tears as we were packing our bag to flee."
Villagers at Redhill expected a scooter rally and were horrified when about 800 people turned up draped in Nazi flags.
"It was disgraceful behaviour. I was very upset that anyone can hold those views after what's happened in the past. I found it incredibly distressing and so did my family," said Debbie Johnson, another Redhill resident.
The two-day event at the end of September, which was organised by a record company called ISD, was a memorial concert for the 15th anniversary of the death of the former lead singer of a band called Skrewdriver.
But North Somerset Council, which granted it a temporary license, didn't realise Skrewdriver was a neo-Nazi band and that ISD describes itself as the world's "oldest and most dependable White Nationalist Movement CD label."
Avon and Somerset Police received dozens of complaints about festivalgoers swearing and urinating in people's gardens.
Some of the crowd reportedly marched through the street chanting, "Sieg Heil, Sieg Heil."
"If I knew that this would happen I would never have allowed it," said Ian Saunders, the manager of The Bungalow pub who had agreed to let the scooter fest take place on a two-acre site adjoining the premises. - John Gammon
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Terri on -
omg. That's just horrible . . . can't we just get a grip on humanity?? Shmucks, is right, Pete. What a slap in the face . . .
to anyone trying to promote a sense of harmony and acceptance in our world.
But you know what? When things like this happen, people like you and others, will respond in the appropriate way: raise awareness to the injustices . . . and that way, it's like those *&(^&$% are recognized for what they are and I firmly believe they will get their due . . . my mom used to always say "in this life or the next" justice will be served.
Peace and hope,
T
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Permalink Reply by The Mad Tea Party on -
...Although many white power skinheads listened to Oi! music, they also developed a separate genre known as Rock Against Communism (RAC).[57] The most notable RAC band was Skrewdriver, which started out as a non-political punk band but evolved into a neo-Nazi band after the first lineup broke up and a new lineup was formed.[58][59][60] RAC started out musically similar to Oi! and punk rock, and has adopted some elements from heavy metal and other types of rock music...
Your post is distressing. To be true, I was in two minds about replying. Being Austrian, I am, historically speaking, on the defense... I've been confronted with the "unspeakable" all my life. I was born into a generation where history lessons finished in 1938, the year Poland and Austria "got annected" or felt the need to welcome A.H. with open arms. Saying that, it makes me sick that A.H. was born in Austria, in Braunau am Inn, Upper Austria, to be precise... Apparently he never got over his first big rejection in life: not being admitted to the Kunstakademie in Vienna as he considered himself to be the most gifted of painters... Those guys who refused to admit him have got a lot to answer for... And the rest we all now know... It is something that can NEVER be forgiven, never ever... It is a weight which Germans and Austrians will have to carry to the end of their lives... yes, even now. School kids in Germany and Austria learn how to "cope" with the guilt, it is actually drilled into them, but it does not seem to make any difference... Unemployment and "falling on bad times" makes the cries for the seemingly "strong" leaders even louder...
Neo-nazisim has been rife in Europe during the last 20 years or so. The incidence you chose to post is one of deplorably many. There's hardly a day in France, England, Germany, and, to a lesser extent Austria, which goes by without similar incidents being reported. Neo-nazism is no longer about antisemitism, it is about anything or anybody with a different creed or skin! The "angst" that those under attack have to put up with probably cannot be imagined by you or me.
All I can say, let's hope the worst doesn't come to the worst! The signs are definitely here, but my optimistic side tells me that in the end the "endlessly human" must win the day!
SHMUCKS is too kind, what about BASTARDS...
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Permalink Reply by Deborah on -
Wow...eight hundred. That's pretty serious. I've been exposed to some unsavory types in some recent blogging and really opened my eyes to the vast number of negative groups that are out there projecting their hate. There is one group called "neo-cons" and they are visciously angry and violent (luckily the exposure was only on-line - I would have been rather scared to confront such people in a crowd). There are also many many violent anti-feminist, woman haters, and racists. I spent a lot of time observing how they reacted to people denouncing them and noticed that they are "completely irrational" and denouncement just adds fuel to their fire. Ignoring them caused them to hit the road and go elsewhere - but its easy online - not so easy in real life. Probing a bit to find out what their backgrounds were they would reveal their very dark history - and it was always some behaviour that was absorbed from the previous generation - or there was some type of seedy abuse related reasoning. But they are all violently angry people that cannot be reasoned with - and I mean not at all - it was shocking. Most do not even really know "why" they are that way and it's all rather blind. Not much different than a religous cult. Very sad. Unfortunately for them...the darkness will never prevail...only the light. Here's a link on that saying.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sieg_Heil
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Permalink Reply by Deborah on
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Yeah...I was involved in a similar discussion like this and the term "dumb" was used...so I said "well, do you think they are dumb?" The various individuals in the discussion that were the target of the rage appeared to be highly intelligent and very knowledgable of their facts...that was clear. The response I received was "No, they are not dumb...but misguided." I thought that was a really good way to describe it.
I've heard over the years various suggestions for how to go about neutralizing this type of thing including "flattening" holidays so they were not religious and just making them strictly "seasonal." I was never clear as to why this particular focus was the prominent one - perhaps it was because it was the first televised one? But there have been plenty of other nightmares like this in our times. It seems like there could be some ways to neutralize it. I often wondered what would happen if everyone were required by law to get these geneology tests - would all parties involved in this particular situation find out they are all "related" - similar to the "all blue eyed people originated from one person topic." It's not like there are that many tracks. Many might find out that they are in fact against themselves I'm sure - that would most definitely invoke some kind of change. What was it? - Obama is related to Angelina Jolie or something like that and George Bush is related to Brad Pitt. You would think that these people would feel embarrassed to behave in such an unevolved manner - but just like you can't believe all the different political opinions when you see them...the same holds true for this. Just an unfortunate situation that they didn't check out their band ahead of time.
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