Norway
Norway is a monarchy with legislative power vested in the 165-member
Storting (parliament). In 1996 Norway continued to be governed by
Det norske Arbeiderparti (DNA, Norwegian Labour Party). Gro Harlem Brundtland
led the government until her resignation in October. She was succeeded as
prime minister by Thorbjoern Jagland (the move completed a transfer of power
between the two that had begun in November 1992 with Brundtland's resignation
as party leader). The appointment of a new cabinet was followed by a series
of scandals involving newly appointed ministers.
Other major Norwegian political parties include: the Senterpartiet (Sp,
Centre Party); Hoeyre (Conservative Party); Kristelig Folkeparti (KrF, Christian
People's Party); and the Fremskrittspartiet (Frp, Progress Party). The next
general elections are scheduled for September 1997.
In March 1996 the Norwegian minister of justice, Grete Faremo, appointed
a committee of inquiry to find out what happened to Jewish-owned property
during and after the Second World War. The committee, which was established
ten months after the issue was first raised in the Norwegian press, includes
experts in legal affairs and history. Two of the committee's members were
appointed by the Norwegian Jewish community. The chairman of the committee
is county governor Oluf Skarpnes, and the investigation is expected to be
completed by spring 1997.
The committee has a comprehensive mandate, with approximately 1,700 confiscation
cases and several hundred business records to examine. Representatives of
the Norwegian government and the Storting have stated that they expect
a resolution of the restitution issue that is both morally and politically
acceptable.
Inflation increased to 2.8 per cent in 1996, compared to 2.5 per cent in
1995. Gross domestic product was 3.2 per cent, a little lower than in 1995.
Unemployment fell to 4.7 per cent by the end of the year.
Pseudo-scientific racism and antisemitism have had proponents in Norway
since the beginning of the century, including John Alfred Mjoen, Eivind
Saxlund and Mikal Sylten. However, their writings did not go unchallenged
and, in several instances, were the subject of court cases. In the 1930s
the Nasjonal Samling (National Union Party) led by Vidkun Quisling and other
minor political groups advocated Nazi ideas. The left-wing press and two
other non-socialist newspapers took a clear stand against Nazism and antisemitism.
Most of the press sharply condemned the events of Kristallnacht and
attacks on Jewish property in Oslo, but the government was reluctant to
receive refugees from Germany for fear of offending the Nazis.
When Germany invaded Norway in April 1940, the latter country's Jewish population
numbered 1,800. Under Nazi occupation, persecution of the Jews began in
1941 and Quisling became minister president in February 1942. On 26 November
1942, 530 Jews were deported to the Nazi death camps. Altogether, 760 Jews
were deported from Norway; only 24 survived. About 930 Jews fled to Sweden
and some 60 remained in hiding in Norway. After the war, the Norwegian government
extended a special invitation to Jews who had survived the camps to settle
in the country.
After a spate of swastika-daubing in early 1960, measures were introduced
to combat antisemitism. The ministry of church and education instructed
schools to keep a close watch on anti-Jewish teachers. In 1963 parliament
approved legislation outlawing actions or expressions offensive to a minority
faith or ethnic group; in 1970 the legislation was strengthened. The law
has rarely been applied. In 1977 a teacher was given a 120-day suspended
sentence for making antisemitic statements in two Oslo newspapers.
In 1975 the antisemitic group Norsk Front attempted unsuccessfully to enter
mainstream political life. It disbanded in 1979 and reorganized itself as
the Nasjonalt Folkeparti (NF, National People's Party). In 1985 it fire-bombed
a mosque in Oslo and sprayed Nazi slogans on the synagogue. The party apparently
dis-banded in 1991.
There is evidence that the Norwegian public, and particularly Norwegian
youth, have an increasingly hostile attitude towards ethnic minorities.
A survey by the Anti-Racist Centre, Oslo, published in 1995, showed that
one in four Norwegians felt some hostility towards immigrants. This figure
was confirmed in a study, Konflikt og opinion (Conflict and Opinion),
by social scientists at the University of Oslo.
The total number of refugees living in Norway is approximately 60,000 and
the number of immigrants is approximately 223,000. In 1996 immigrant groups
continued to face racial discrimination, violence and harassment. The main
immigrant minority groups were Pakistanis, Vietnamese, Turks and Africans.
Prior to the immigration of the 1970s, the main minority groups were the
Sami, Roma and a tiny Finnish population in the north-east of the country.
The government, who agreed in 1995 to make an economic analysis of the cost
of immigration in the coming year, carried out an analysis but failed to
produce a figure for the "real cost" of immigration. In 1996 there
were six incidents of arson and violence against immigrant families and
asylum seekers. There were also thirty violent attacks on anti-racists by
racist factions.
The Norwegian far right encompasses racist and anti-immigrant parties
that seek electoral representation, as well as a skinhead culture that emulates
its neo-Nazi counterparts elsewhere in Europe. There are about fifteen loosely
connected ultra-nationalist and neo-Nazi groups in the south of the country.
The most significant anti-immigration party in 1996 was the Frp (see GENERAL
BACKGROUND), which holds ten seats in parliament (by the end of the year
this had reduced to six seats, with four Frp candidates realigning as independent
MPs). Before the 1993 general election the party held twenty-two seats.
The year-long battle between racists and liberals in the party ended in
1994, when most of the liberal opposition to the party's leader, Carl Hagen,
left the Frp. Local branches distributed racist leaflets in many parts of
the country. The Frp published a document on the cost of immigration, which
turned out to be a two-year-old publication of the racist group Den Norske
Forening (see below). Nevertheless, in 1995 the Norwegian government ordered
a large-scale survey in order to find out the "real cost" of immigration
to Norwegian society (see RACISM AND XENOPHOBIA). Frp MP Øystein
Hedstrøm, who has past links with the far right, promised in September
that his 1997 election campaign was going to be in "the interests of
Norwegian voters".
In April, the Oslo branch of the Frp's youth organization, Fremskrittspartiets
Ungdom (FPU), admitted it had been infiltrated by members of the neo-Nazi
group Viking (see below). Infiltrators included Viking member Eirik Solheim,
who is to stand trial on charges of threatening behaviour (see LEGAL MATTERS).
Having been found out, Solheim resigned in February from his FPU activities,
which had included giving lectures at meetings. Other suspected members
of Viking were expelled and the chairman of the youth group resigned.
The Fedrelandspartiet (FLP, Fatherland Party), led by Harald Trefall and
Bjarne Dahl, is another anti-immigration party. It has two representatives
in local councils and received 11,546 votes in the 1993 general election.
However, in the 1995 local elections the FLP lost all its seats. In 1996,
FLP activity revolved around the revitalization of its youth organization,
Fedrelandspartiets Ungdom (FLU), under the leadership of Arnljot Moseng.
Before the local elections in 1995, Jack Erik Kjuus and his party Stopp
Innvandringen (SI, Stop Immigration) had taken part in the Oslo elections
and had one elected representative on the local board of Drammen. At the
beginning of the year Kjuus changed the party's name to Hvit Valgallianse
(HV, White Elect-oral Alliance), legally registering it as a party and formed
a youth section, Hvit Ungdom (White Youth). Kjuus claims that many of his
party supporters and members are active in the Frp (see above). The central
tenets of the new HV programme proposed forced sterilization and abortion
as a means to reduce the number of ethnic minorities and children adopted
from outside Europe. The party's slogan is "Repatriate and Sterilize".
Following a police investigation during 1996 into material produced by the
HV, Kjuus was convicted of the distribution of racist material (see LEGAL
MATTERS).
The anti-immigration parties Folkebevegelsen mot Innvandring (FMI, People's
Movement Against Immigration) and Norge Mot Innvandring (NMI, Norway Against
Immigration) were both inactive during 1996. One contributing factor may
be the ill health and retirement of Arne Myrdal, the former leader of the
FMI and the leading ideologue, with Øyvind Mossing, of the NMI.
In 1996 the Norges Patriotiske Enhets-parti (NPE, Norwegian Patriotic Party)
abandoned its collection of the 5,000 signatures necessary to register as
a party. It is one of Norway's most fanatical nationalist group and its
leader, Knut Westland, is Norway's leading force in racist ideology. Westland
works as a captain in the armed forces; in October 1996 he was forced to
withdraw from his position in the officers' union when his political stance
became clear. The NPE started to draw support from the more committed younger
racists in Norway. The leadership tried to gather public support by forming
an Åsatru-samfunn (Åsatru society). An Åsatru-samfunn
is a religious group that worships the old Norse gods such as Odin and
Thor. With official approval the NPE could obtain funds from the state,
like any other religious group in Norway, and establish a "club-house".
However, the government rejected the NPE's application. There are other
Åsatru-samfunn that are already established, but they are non-political
and have not expressed racist views.
In the summer Westland was also involved with the foundation of a religious
community based on the old Norse religion of Odinism. The community is led
by Vilfred Hansen and its treasurer, Lillian Evant, a member of the Fritt
Forum/Norsk Blad editorial staff (see PUBLICATIONS AND MEDIA). The Odinist
project is perhaps an attempt to recruit new members to far-right groups,
there being a current fascination among Norwegian youth with old Norse mythology
and the Viking era.
Forente Nasjonalister (United Nationalists) is an offshoot of NPE that in
1996 attempted to become the umbrella organization that would unite the
Norwegian far right. During the year members of the group travelled all
over Norway in order to build up a network. They produced several militant
and racist pos-ters but were not visibly active in other ways.
Den Norske Forening (DNF, Norwegian Society) was founded in 1991 and is
inspired by the Danish organization Den Danske Forening (see Denmark). In
1996 its activities continued to escalate: DNF regularly published NORFAKTA
(Nord Facts) and its associate group NOINFO (Norwegian Information)
continued to produce a second paper, Nordmannen (The Norwegian).
The only visible activity of ZORN 88 (8 refers to H, the eighth letter of
the alphabet; 88 stands for "Heil Hitler") and its leader, Erik
Rune Hansen, in 1996 was the production of its magazine, Gjallarhorn
(Sounding Horn), distributed from Poland. The magazine, which appears
irregularly, contains antisemitic and Holocaust-denying articles and carries
advert-isements for neo-Nazi paraphernalia. ZORN 88's attempt to build a
youth organization was unsuccessful in 1996.
The Boot Boys, veterans of the neo-Nazi scene led by Ole Krogstad, continue
to serve more as role models than as the leading force of far-right youth
culture. As in 1995, they were active in the music business in 1996, with
their record company and mail-order business, Boot Boys Records.
Krogstad was responsible for organizing a New Year's concert in Vikersund
that was attended by 120 Norwegian and Swedish neo-Nazis mostly aged between
fifteen and twenty. Boot Boys CD productions and other neo-Nazi paraphernalia
were for sale at the concert.
Although there were fewer neo-Nazi concerts than in the previous year, several
were held in the spring, and Norwegian neo-Nazis were present at events
in other Scandinavian countries. Viking (see below) organized a concert
on 30 March in Nittedal, near Oslo, at which a new band, Norhat (Northern
Hatred), made its debut along with Krogstad's band, Vidkuns Venner (Vidkun's
Friends, a reference to Vidkun Quisling).
Norges Nasjonalistiske Bevegelse (NNB, Norway's Nationalistic Movement)
is based in Sandvika, outside Oslo. During 1996 the group established a
number of companies: the magazines Patrioten and Einherjer ;
Norsk Skinheads Aksjon; NORKOM (transport); NNB Media (video production),
Bifrost Video (video sales); NNB Catering; and a prisoner support organization,
Støtt Krigsfangene. Having set up the companies, NNB was not involved
in activities after the summer.
Viking was established in 1994 by nationalist youth in an attempt to establish
a "cultural club" to promote Norwegian language and culture. The
group operates from a rented house in Oslo. Members of Viking have been
convicted of violent offences and in 1996 were active in recruiting children
as young as twelve into the club. Members were also successful in infiltrating
the FPU (see above).
Following an incident in May, where Viking members clashed with anti-fascists,
the police raided the Viking premises and arrested twenty-eight members
of the group, some of whom were in possession of firearms. They were released
the following day and no charges were pressed. It was not until the following
autumn that group member and convicted murderer Jonny Olsen, who was photographed
brandishing a pistol on this occasion and who purportedly shot into the
crowd of demonstrating anti-fascists, was detained in custody. He is awaiting
trial for this incident and other violent episodes.
Norsk Arisk Ungdomsfront (NAUF, Norwegian Aryan Youth Front) was set up
in the small town of Hønefoss in Ringerike in October 1995. Although
not registered as an official organization the group is active in recruiting
members in the fifteen-to-thirty age group. By the end of 1996 it had about
thirty-five members. Other groups in the town include Vern Av Rikets Grenser
(VARG, Protection of the State Borders) and Norsk Patriotisk Ungdom (Northern
Patriotic Youth) who were involved in attacks on anti-fascists and immigrants
through the year.
In recent years in the Stavanger area, groups such as Birkebeinergruppen,
Ku Klux Klan and Einsatz have been set up, but have been unsuccessful because
of the violent, criminal actions of their members. Along the southern coastline
of Norway, in towns such as Risør, Færvik and Kristiansand,
a number of groups have been established under the name Hvit Revolusjon
(White Revolution).
A group of neo-Nazis known as Forente Nasjonalister (United Nationalists)
was behind violent incidents in the city of Tønsberg during 1996.
In April, police arrested two neo-Nazis, a nineteen-year-old girl and a
sixteen-year-old boy, for illegal possession of weapons. Police seized stolen
guns, ammunition and knives in raids on their homes. In August in the same
city there was an arson attack on a Kurdish family's house, carried out
by young boys linked to the neo-Nazis in the surrounding area. Five boys
were arrested and two were convicted, but their sentence was reduced because
the court found that they had no firm racist beliefs. On 9 November (the
anniversary of Kristallnacht), neo-Nazis held a party in Tønsberg,
claiming that it was their night and that it had been hijacked by anti-fascists
around the world.
There are no signs to indicate that the hard-core, far-right parties will win any substantial support in the 1997 parliamentary elections. Their greatest impact is their influence on other political parties, who fear losing voters and therefore tend to tolerate anti-immigration policies.
There were no serious antisemitic manifestations in Norway in 1996. In April the president of the Jewish community in Trondheim received antisemitic mail.
Michael Knutsen is a central figure in the far right in Norway. His monthly
magazine, Fritt Forum/Norsk Blad , remained the most professional
of the far-right publications in 1996. The spring issue included articles
on the significance of the Hitlerite slogan "Sieg Heil", and the
summer issue a three-page review of Ice Breaker: Who started the Second
World War? , which claims that Hitler saved Europe from communism and
lists the Institute for Historical Review (IHR, see United States of America)
as a contact address. The book was written by Viktor Suvorov and sold by
the IHR. The magazine's "info-line" continued for the fourth year,
bringing weekly news about far-right meetings and activities.
There have been allegations that Knutsen is also involved in the Gardermoen-based
mail-order company, Nord Effekter. In 1996 the commercial activities of
the far right took off in Norway. Nord Effekter, continued to sell Swedish
"Viking rock" and neo-Nazi publications and is one of the largest
neo-Nazi mail-order companies in Scandinavia. It advertises a huge stock
of CDs, T-shirts, magazines and other merchandise and in 1996 expanded its
catalogue to include books such as The Turner Diaries (see United
States of America). During the year it also started a music skinzine, Rock
& Nation , which was a combination of a magazine and a catalogue.
In 1996 the magazine section was taken over by the skinzine Ung Front
(Young Front).
During 1996 and continuing into 1997 the attorney general oversaw a police
investigation into Knutsen's activities, Fritt Forum/Norsk Blad and
Nord Effekter. In the aftermath of investigations and trials of Swedish
distributors of neo-Nazi music (see Sweden) there is a possibility that
similar legal action may be undertaken in Norway.
In 1996, six issues of the NNB (see PARTIES, ORGANIZATIONS, MOVEMENTS) magazine
Patrioten were published. NNB also distributed the magazine Einherjer
, containing a mixture of Holocaust denial, and antisemitic and neo-Nazi
ideology.
Alfred Olsen (no relation to Jonny Olsen, see PARTIES, ORGANIZATIONS, MOVEMENTS
and LEGAL MATTERS) and his Folkets motstandbevegelse (Peoples' Resistance
Movement) continued to produce and distribute antisemitic leaflets, books
and posters during 1996. Olsen was also responsible for the anti-Zionist
and antisemitic Holy War Internet web site (subtitled "The Christian
Brotherhood Holy War against the Enemies of God"). The site, which
has links such as "The Secret of Masons and the International Satanic
Racist Zionist Mafia" and "Judge for Yourself: The Satanic Racist
Zionist Mafia and their Protocols", also included twenty-eight pages
of Norwegian-language excerpts from The Protocols of the Elders of Zion
. This text was accessible through a link entitled "B'nai B'rith".
According to the site's visitor log, over 40,000 "hits" have been
made on its pages, which are available in several languages, including English
and Italian (see Italy). Olsen's contact address is given as Oslo.
Also in 1996 the community radio station Nite Rocket was closed down because
of financial reasons, and the station Radio Bergen changed its profile.
In May, during an interview on National Television, Varg Vikernes, who is
serving a twenty-one-year sentence for murder and arson, claimed that since
1945 Norway has been occupied by a "Jewish power". The incident
passed without counter-comment from the show's presenter, although later
was much debated in the media.
The following Norwegian far-right and neo-Nazi groups and activists had
home pages on the World Wide Web at the end of 1996: Alfred Olsen; Boot
Boys Records; Fedrelands-ungdommen; Forente Nasjonalister; Fritt Forum/Norsk
Blad ; Hvit Ungdom; Nord Effekter; Norges Nasjonalistiske Bevegelse;
Norwegian Patriot Page; and Viking.
The government proposal to make religious education-with a heavy emphasis on the teaching of Christian doctrine-a compulsory part of the curriculum was passed by parliament in 1996. The possibility to be exempted from these lessons for reasons of religious conviction is to be subject to further discussion. It is not yet clear how the law will be applied in the schools.
Lars Burmeister, the Berlin leader of the banned FAP (see Germany), was
arrested in Hokksund in 1995 and extradited from Norway to Germany in January
1996.
Viking member Jonny Olsen (see PARTIES, ORGANIZATIONS, MOVEMENTS) and Petter
Kristian Kyvik have been charged with involvement in violent incidents and
attacks on anti-racists. While Kyvik was detained in police custody from
March to await trial, Olsen was not brought in until October.
In March, five members of the Stavanger Einsatz group (see PARTIES, ORGANIZATIONS,
MOVEMENTS) received prison sentences of between two and three years for
armed assault on a gun shop. Led by Tom Kimmo Eiternes and Jarl Stein Vatnamot,
the neo-Nazis attended court in uniform and wearing swastika T-shirts.
In April, Jan Holthe was charged with numerous offences in connection with
his racist activities. Holthe was involved in Birkebeinergruppen and Hvit
Arisk Motstand (HAM, White Aryan Resistance).
In October, Eirik Solheim of Viking (see PARTIES, ORGANIZATIONS, MOVEMENTS),
was awarded a ninety-day suspended prison sentence on three charges of assault
and threats with a dangerous weapon.
Jack Erik Kjuus, leader of the HV (see PARTIES, MOVEMENTS, ORGANIZATIONS)
became the first person since 1982 to be charged in Norway with distribution
of racist material. He was tried at the beginning of 1997 and the verdict
is awaited.
On 27 January, 4,000 anti-fascists staged a march in Oslo against the
increasing level of neo-Nazi violence (see PARTIES, ORGANIZATIONS, MOVEMENTS).
Following the march, the Oslo Anti-Racist Centre, Anti-Fascist Action and
SOS Rasisme held workshops and seminars around the city in an anti-racist
education week.
In November, the Oslo Anti-Racist Centre held an international conference
that focused on the dangers of the far right in Europe. Participants attended
from the UK, France, Germany and the Scandinavian countries. Another conference
in the same month was run by the Norwegian Association Against Antisemitism
(NFMA). Among the speakers was the historian Rolf Hobson, who discussed
Holocaust denial in the Norwegian context. It is hoped that the conference
would provide information for teachers who deal with racism in the classroom.
Thoughout the year there were local community initiatives by municipalities,
police and concerned parents to quell the emergence of violent racist youth
groups.
During 1996 the increase of anti-foreigner attitudes and violence, neo-Nazi
activities and the infiltration of extremists into the Frp and FPU (see
PARTIES, ORGANIZATIONS, MOVEMENTS) gave cause for concern. The rise of the
Norwegian far-right music scene and the success of the international marketing
of Scandanavian far-right and neo-Nazi merchandise was also apparent during
the year. And while it does not seem that there is widespread support for
far-right and racist ideology in Norway-thus keeping the parties, organizations
and movements on the fringe of politics-there is nevertheless the worry
that the further the far right go, the further they will drag the mainstream
along with them. Antisemitism, although present in Norwegian far-right doctrine,
is not integral to it.
© JPR 1997