Germans Check Shameful Acts, Except For One American Propagandist Remains Out Of Reach

Neo-Nazis whose violence and other spiteful acts have shamed Germany are finally being reined in, but the American who supplies most of their propaganda remains out of reach.

Due to better law enforcement, about 30 percent fewer neo-Nazi attacks were recorded in 1994 from the 2,232 in 1993, the deputy chief of German counterintelligence said Monday.

Bans on neo-Nazi groups and infiltration by German agents have thrown fascists into disarray, said Peter Frisch, vice president of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution. Hundreds of neo-Nazis are in prison.

But there’s little German authorities can do about American Gary Lauck - identified by Frisch as the biggest supplier of propaganda to German neo-Nazis.

As the leader of a group that idolizes Hitler, Lauck prints an anti-Semitic newspaper and propaganda in Lincoln, Neb.

“We’ve had intensive talks with the FBI about him,” Frisch said at an exhibit on extremism. “They (the FBI) point out that freedom of speech is an absolute right in the United States and there is no chance to take legal action against him.

“Our only chance is intercepting it. But he (Lauck) doesn’t put a return address on the envelopes so it’s hard to spot. We are able to confiscate some, but huge amounts get through,” Frisch said.

Printing or possessing neo-Nazi material is a crime in Germany under laws Americans helped formulate at the end of World War II.

A display case at the exhibit at an educational fair in Duesseldorf contains a sample of Lauck’s work: a bumper sticker bearing a swastika and the words “We are back.”

Also on display are a starter pistol, brass knuckles, mock firebomb and a martial arts weapon made of two hard handles connected by a chain. All but the mock firebomb were used in neo-Nazi attacks.

And there’s an anti-Semitic board game called “Don’t Get So Upset, Jews.” The hand-drawn board is a Star of David with the words “Gas Chamber” at the center. Other stops are the former Nazi death camps at Auschwitz and Treblinka.

A giant flag with a swastika, produced in Taiwan, is set beside the weapons inside the plexiglass case, as are German-language CDs recorded in Britain and France with heavy metal music and anti-foreigner and antiSemitic lyrics.

At least 30 people - mainly foreigners - have been killed in neo-Nazi violence that has plagued Germany since its reunification in 1990. With an average of two or three attacks a day, Frisch said the fight has not yet been won.