REPRESENTATIVES OF 45 countries, including Britain's
New Labour government, the German Social Democrats,
and Lionel Jospin's French Socialist Party, met
in Stockholm at the end of January for a conference
on the Nazi Holocaust. Almost 55 years since the end
of the second world war, these politicians have created
this opportunity for themselves to play the 'good
guys', condemning racism and fascism. Unfortunately
for them, they met in a country hosting Europe's most
violent fascists.
In 1999, Sweden witnessed several brutal killings,
including the deaths of two policemen executed with
their own guns by three Nazi robbers and the premeditated
murder of trade union activist, Björn Söderberg.
On New Year's Eve, 19-year old Salih Uzel was killed
by Nazis in a working-class suburb of Stockholm.
A gang of Nazi youth attacked his brother's family
and Salih and other Turks came to help. Salih was stabbed
and then kicked while he was lying on the ground dying.
Later, in the police cell, the murderer daubed a swastika
on the wall with his own blood.
A Berlin newspaper reported in the autumn that German
Nazis look to Sweden for guidance. Swedish Nazis
have established a leading role in White Power music,
releasing 342 CDs last year. They also have a computerised
intelligence network covering all their 'enemies',
including address lists, details of relatives,
car registration numbers, etc. In June, journalist
Peter Karlsson and his eleven-year-old son escaped
near death from a car bomb. They were saved by the fact
that they had not closed the car doors. The journalist
was living undercover with a new identity after exposing
Nazis in the army. He had also written articles on
the White Power music industry which resulted in
CD producers in Italy, Taiwan and the US ending their
contracts with the Swedish Nazis.