I’ve been picking for many years now and have found lots of different “things” along the way. While most of my finds these days have a familiar (but nevertheless novel) quality I still occasionally happen across something I’ve never seen before. Usually it’s a tool of a trade or profession, or something related to a fairly niche interest. This time it’s hate literature published by various far-right, fascist, and Neo-Nazi organizations in Canada and France.
To be clear I’ve come across racist items before (like the Chief Wahoo toy I found a little while back), just nothing relating to or promoting any kind of overtly racist movement.
It’s fair to wonder if humanity would have been better off if I left these in the trash. However, I think it’s important that they continue to exist. These publications are actually pretty hard to find and might prove valuable to someone interested in researching the topic. And there’s always that old George Santayana quote: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” It’s good to remember that these types of ideas still exist, even if we may not see any evidence of them within our social bubbles.
The literature dates from 1980 to 1994 and was published by a few different organizations. I’ll describe the groups briefly in the next few paragraphs, but if you prefer not to read about such things check back for my next post – I promise that my it will be very charming! (Hint: this week I found a great collection of kitschy embroideries and a large ceramic dog).
Le Flambeau was published by the PNFE (French and European Nationalist Party), a group of French Neo-Nazis and Skinheads that operated between 1987-2000. One of the covers celebrates the life of Léon Degrelle, a Belgian Nazi collaborator who later fled to Spain and became a prominent figure in fascist and Neo-Nazi movements. This group was blamed for several attacks on immigrants as well as the vandalism of a Jewish cemetery.
I haven’t looked to much into this pamphlet (that block of text would seriously challenge my French skills), but from a glance it seems to be a letter by Roger Dommergue (a holocaust denier) defending a guy named Robert Faurisson (another holocaust denier) against some type of charge against him.
Jeune Nation was a magazine run by the Cercle Jeune Nation. It’s hard to find any reference to it online outside of this 1996 article discussing Quebec’s Catholic far right. According to the article, Cercle Jeune Nation sought to “to construct a French Canadian fascist ideology” and considered race and religion the cornerstones of “a ‘true’ French Canadian identity.” This issue features an article by Günter Deckert, a holocaust denier who once led Germany’s far-right National Democratic Party. I have several copies of this magazine as well as a letter acknowledging a donation to the organization. Cercle Jeune Nation appears to have been based out of Laval, Quebec – just north of Montreal.
Serviam was (perhaps still is?) the journal of Canada’s National Unity Party. That party was created in 1934 by Adrien Arcand, a nut who referred to himself as the “Canadian Führer.” The party was banned in 1940, but it appears that they continued on an unofficial basis after that point. The Serviam magazines I found were all published in the mid-1980s. Each issue ends with a “Declaration of Principles” and the slogan “Vive le Canada; Vive le parti, Vive Arcand.” These magazines are largely French but also include the occasional English article.
A potentially interesting side note here is that I found these papers at the same spot that provided the interesting UFO ephemera a while back. I’ll be sure to keep an eye on that spot going forward.
Quite the eye-opener. Of course, I was aware these kinds of organizations existed, and here is the proof. It’s unfortunate that there are such “crazies” in the world (and in polite, mild-mannered Canada!), whose only aim is to nurture hate and discord. I am glad you brought the matter to light in your blog.
Looking at the bright side: they threw it away!
True. I suspect this person has passed on (or maybe is in an old-age home), but I guess it means that whatever children or relatives they had don’t have as much of an interest, which is good.
Assuming you recall the location of where you found these, I think it would be wise to contact the police in that area and discuss it with them. Though the pieces you have are older, the person may still hold these radical views. I’m not saying radical views are unlawful, but sometimes SOMETIMES they can lead to radical actions. Sadly, in the world we now live in, we need to be watchful.
As far as I know it’s not a crime to have these sorts of beliefs as long as you don’t act them, and I have no proof they ever actually committed any crimes. I don’t think talking to the police would be either productive or a positive experience on my part.
As well, my educated guess tells me that far-right Neo-Nazi groups are probably very much infiltrated by police and secret service types anyways. They have informants and all that, so I doubt anything these sorts of organizations do goes unnoticed.
I like your blog and commend you for publishing this post on your blog.I do not know what this crazy admiration of Hitler is all about.Hitler himself was dark-haired and not fair-skinned.I am not Jewish but realize that HItler killed not only Jews but also many Gypsies,handicapped people and many homosexuals.He started World War II and is a big zero to me.I am an albino,and by my standards Hitler was a worthless [man] with one testicle(His other testicle was lost to tuberculosis.)
I own a printing business and my business was in the doldrums from June to September.It was great until May.The heat of this year was counterproductive to my business perhaps and I had 50% less business this summer than last year.I too am hoping ,like you,that business will pick up.I also do a side business and for a while I was considering if I should start collecting scrap metal and cans to make money secretly.It is not just the poor who are doing this—at night I look through my window in Cote Des Neiges and see all manners of people going through the trash surreptitiously,looking for all kinds of things.I see people walking off with scrap metal,cans and bottles,utensils,plates and dishes,radios,microwaves,toys,etc.There is more scavenging in some areas than others,I imagine.In Cote Des Neiges,there is a lot of poverty and a rising cost of living.
These things can provide a bit of extra income yes. The only thing is that because of the poverty there are already a lot of can pickers / scrappers out there. That doesn’t mean that you can’t do it too, but you might not find as many cans as you would elsewhere.
I found myself in a similar position a few years back while volunteering at our local public library’s book sale. Among the donations were three boxes of Holocaust denial books and pamphlets dating from the ‘sixties through the ‘nineties. My knee-jerk reaction was to throw it all away, but my brain quickly took over. I contacted a professor who was teaching a course on the Holocaust. He was very pleased to be offered the material, drove out to see me, and took it off our hands. No charge, of course… but he insisted on leaving a donation.
Interesting. They could be used as a teaching tool I suppose. In any case, it’s better to know of the existence of these kinds of horrors than to bury our heads in the sand and ignore them.
Interesting! Glad you figured out a good way to deal with them. Maybe I can find someone similar like that in Montreal.
i just want to know how on earth you can deny the holocaust happened. My father fought in WWII (an OSS agent stationed with the French Resistance) and that is the one thing he would never talk about. I heard about him blowing up bridges and sabotage and helping people escape, but he would never talk about the holocaust.
I’m not sure either, except for the fact that it seems people can believe just about anything if they want.
Yes, that’s it. Some people lie so much they believe their own lies. I think it involves some measure of delusion.
Très particulier comme trouvaille. L’historien Jean-François Nadeau a écrit un livre fascinant sur le « führer canadien » Adrien Arcand. Chez Lux éditeur. Troublant…
A sobering blog post. Thank you, as always, for your thoughtfulness.