Newsgroups: alt.skinheads,alt.politics.white-power,alt.politics.nationalism.white,soc.culture.nordic
Subject: ADL: Skinhead International; Norway
Summary: The ADL's "Skinhead International: A Worldwide Survey
         of Neo-Nazi Skinheads"
Followup-To: alt.skinheads

Archive/File: pub/orgs/american/adl/skinhead-international/skins-
Last-Modified: 1995/09/03

                       Norway

The Norwegian Skinhead movement is young and rather small,
probably numbering some 100 to 150. Not all of them fit the
neo-Nazi label. In addition to a small group of leftist SHARP
(Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice) Skins, many of those
calling themselves "nationalist" or "patriotic" Skins do not
necessarily sucscribe to Nazi ideology. Some of the leading
figures are, however, unabashed neo-Nazis and ideological
racists.

The first tiny group, Boot Boys, started up in 1987. Their
leader was (and still is) Ole Krogstad. He was a regional
youth leader in the now-defunct and partly Nazi-inspired
Nasjonalt Folkeparti (National People's Party). Together with
other leading party activists, Krogstad was arrested in 1985
after a bomb attack on a Muslim mosque. The culprit in this
attack was another young Skinhead member of Nasjonalt
Folkeparti, but the police investigation brought other crimes
to the surface. Krogstad was sentenced to 10 months
imprisonment for a dynamite attack on an immigrant welfare
office, painting Nazi slogans on a Jewish synagogue, and
illegally possessing explosives and weapons. After serving his
term, Krogstad became an activist in the now-defunct
Nasjonal-Demokratisk Union.

                   Bodyguard Service

During the late eighties, Boot Boys linked up with the racist
movement Folkebevegelsen Mot Innvandring (FMI, The People's
Movement Against Immigration), and later its split-off Norge
Mot Innvandring (NMI, Norway Against Immigration). The Boot
Boys turned up as bodyguards at many of FMI's and NMI's
rallies and meetings. These meetings regularly ended up in
clashes with the police and/or the Skins' leftist SHARP
opponents.

Partly on account of the small number of Norwegian
"nationalist" Skins, they have had to cooperate with other
(non-Skinhead) groups and individuals both in Norway and
abroad. The Skinhead and Nazi movements in Sweden have always
been admired by their Norwegian "smaller brothers." In 1991,
some Norwegians were allowed to join the Swedish Nazi
terrorist network Vitt Ariskt Motstand (VAM, White Aryan
Resistance). VAM is modeled after the American terrorist group
The Order and its fictional version in "The Turner Diaries," a
novel by the American neo-Nazi William Pierce. A Norwegian
branch of VAM was set up during 1991 (HAM, Hvit Arisk
Moststand), but it was soon exposed and deeply discredited
(especially in relation to international Nazi circles) when
one of its members turned out to be an anti-fascist mole. He
went public and told the media and the police about plans to
bomb a leftist youth club in Oslo and to set fire to the
cottage belonging to the President of the Norwegian
parliament, who is Jewish. After this blunder, the Norwegian
"Aryan warriors" had to keep their heads low for a while.

                      New Groups

During 1992 and '93, a couple of new Skinhead-inspired groups
surfaced. The first was Birkebeinerne (a name derived from an
old Viking saga). The leading members of this gorup were
identical with leaders of the Norwegian branch of the Swedish
VAM (HAM), but they were also reinforced with some activists
from NMI and the crumbling FMI. Unlike HAM, Birkebeinerne try
to present themselves as non-Nazi nationalists. ("Selling"
Nazism and patriotism in the same package is highly
problematic in Norway, due to memories of the Norwegian Nazis'
collaboration with German occupiers during the Second World
War, which gave rise to the label "quislings," after the name
of their leader.)

Another new local group is called Ariske Brodre (Aryan
Brothers). Some members from Ariske Brodre have secretly
cooperated with leading members of Fedrelandspartiet (The
Fatherland Party). This party is the biggest anti-immigation
party in Norway, having received around 12,000 votes in the
1993 election to the Norwegian parliament (0.6% of the total).
A third group, with ambitions to serve as a kind of umbrella
organization, is Norsk Ungdom/Ung Front (Norwegian Youth/Young
Front). Skinheads comprise part of the membership of another
recently formed group, Viking.

During spring 1993, members of the different Skinhead groups
worked together in the planning of attacks on anti-fascist
meetings. The attacks failed completely, as the police knew
their plans in advance. Neither could these groups prevent the
anti-fascist demonstrators from breaking up most rallies and
meetings held by the racist Fedrelandspartiet in the Norwegian
election campaign. 

                       First Band

Late in the summer of 1994, the first Skinhead band, The
Rinnan Band, surfaced in Norway. Henry Rinnan, after whom the
band was named, was Nazi-occupied Norway's most hated and
feared torturer. After threats of lawsuits from Rinnan's
relatives, the band changed its name to H-band or the Hirdmen.
That name, too, has an association with Nazism: although the
old Norwegian Viking kings' bodyguards were called Hirdmen,
the name was also used by the armed and uniformed followers of
the Norwegian traitor Quisling during the Nazi occupation.

Dozens of Skinhead members of Vicking, Ariske Brodre and Boot
Boys were among over 75 extremists detained in Oslo in
February 1995 after they attacked left-wing protestors with
slingshots and other crude weapons. The incident took place at
a building rented out by neo-Nazis and other extremist groups
under the guise that it was a "cultural center." The police
confiscated weapons as well as Nazi propaganda and
paraphernalia from the building.

Since their arrival on the scene, Norwegian Skinheads have
generally been looked upon as outcasts and madmen with their
shaven heads and admiration of Adolf Hitler. Perhaps because
of their modest numbers, the Skins and other right-wing
extremists have recently tried to recruit school children as
young as 12 into their ranks, although these efforts so far
have been unsuccessful. After seven years of activity, they
number no more than 100 to 150 (but slowly growing), and their
names and faces are well known.

However, to other Nazi groups and "respectable"
anti-immigration parties and organizations, the Skinheads are
important as foot soldiers. Over the last couple of years they
have helped more sophisticated Nazi groups to gather
information about leading anti-fascists, politicians and
journalists. A Norwegian harassment (and possibly death) list
has been compiled by a secretive group called Anti-antifa
(anti-anti-fascists). A leading member of Anti-antifa is a
right-wing extremists who has been convicted of bombings and
arms theft. He spent a short time in the French Foreign
Legion, and his name has been linked to the Boot Boys.
Together with other militarily experienced persons he is now
trying to discipline both Skinheads and ordinary youth who
have been dragged into the web of the Nazis. Their plan has
two focuses: to establish a reign of terror in the streets (by
the use of Skinheads) and by selective terror to silence their
main political opponents. (Anti-Defamation League, 56-58)


                          Work Cited

Anti-Defamation League. The Skinhead International: A Worldwide
Survey of Neo-Nazi Skinheads. New York: Anti-Defamation League,
1995. Anti-Defamation League, 823 United Nations Plaza, New York, NY
10017.

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