Povl Riis-Knudsen
Encyclopedia
Povl Heinrich Riis-Knudsen (born 1950) is a prominent Danish
Neo-Nazi.
Riis-Knudsen is best known as the author of the articles National Socialism: A Left Wing Movement (1984) and National Socialism: The Biological World View (1987).
took charge of the World Union of National Socialists
(WUNS) and sought out Riis-Knudsen, already a leading neo-Nazi in Denmark, as his Europe
an contact. Riis-Knudsen, who felt that Nazism in Europe was hamstrung by the continent's historical experience, welcomed the move as he felt the United States
had less of this and so he became General Secretary of the WUNS. At the time he at the head of an expansion for the group with the likes of Gaston-Armand Amaudruz
in Switzerland
, Ramon Bau in Spain
and Victor DeCecco in Italy
affiliating. Before long, however, Riis-Knudsen lost this position as he did not then share Koehl's desire to form a religion based on Nazism
, claiming that "normal people were few and far between" when he visited Koehl's supporters. Following the breakdown of this relationship, Riis-Knudsen began to concentrate more on writing.
His seminal work was the 1987 article National Socialism - The Biological World View in which he argued that National Socialism had its basis in the laws of nature and was in effect the culmination of the search for truth as the founding principle of life. Much of what he has written in based on the mysticism of Savitri Devi.
He also published National Socialism - A Left Wing Movement (1984), which argued that the revolutionary
nature of Nazism set it apart from the reactionary
ways of the right
and so Nazism was in fact a left wing
ideology
.
According to Riis-Knudsen in National Socialism - A Left Wing Movement:
Riis-Knudsen had come to look for more of an accommodation with communism, becoming part of a tendency in the European far right
at the time to think this way. Alongside Jean-François Thiriart
, he rejected abstract Marxism
but was nonetheless attracted to the practice of communism
. He even went as far as to visit the Soviet Union
in 1978, a move which led to controversy in the Danish press who knew Riis-Knudsen as a neo-Nazi. He came to view Russia
, rather than the USA, as the saviours of the Aryan race
and made this break clear in A Left Wing Movement.
In Denmark itself Riis-Knudsen served as chairman of the Danmarks Nationalsocialistiske Bevægelse (National Socialist Movement of Denmark), an openly neo-Nazi organisation founded in 1970. The movement had around 1000 members by 1988 In this capacity Riis-Knudsen built up a network of contacts across Europe, working with German
Michael Kühnen
and Holocaust denier
Thies Christophersen
. He also for CEDADE
in a special edition of their bulletin which also featured Salvador Borrego
, Wilfred von Oven
and Richard Edmonds
. In more recent years his international contacts have included Mark Cotterill
and former New Order
spokesman Martin Kerr.
Riis-Knudsen caused further controversy in the late 1980s when he appeared on TV calling for Denmark to be purged of all immigrants
, the death penalty for anyone caught transmitting AIDS
, labour camps for his political opponents and sterilization of non-whites. The appearance caused outrage in Norway
and Sweden
and was banned from being screened in Denmark. He has also declared his support for Palestine
against Israel
and a sympathy with Islamic fundamentalism
, albeit balanced against a desire to see Islam
expelled from Europe.
Expelled from the DNSB in 1992 for "race mixing" in an engagement to a Palestinian Christian
whom Rii-Knudsen argued was a "white Arab
", Riis-Knudsen has since turned his attention to running his own publishing house, Nordland-Verlag, from Aalborg
. This has courted controversy as it has published a series of books on the topic of Holocaust denial in the Danish language
.
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
Neo-Nazi.
Riis-Knudsen is best known as the author of the articles National Socialism: A Left Wing Movement (1984) and National Socialism: The Biological World View (1987).
Life and ideas
Riis-Knudsen first came to prominence when Matt KoehlMatt Koehl
Matt Koehl is the leader of a self-defined religious organization called the New Order. As deputy commander, in August 1967 Koehl succeeded the assassinated George Lincoln Rockwell as 'Commander' of the National Socialist White People's Party...
took charge of the World Union of National Socialists
World Union of National Socialists
The World Union of National Socialists is an organisation founded in 1962 as an umbrella group for neo-Nazi organisations across the globe.-Formation:...
(WUNS) and sought out Riis-Knudsen, already a leading neo-Nazi in Denmark, as his Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an contact. Riis-Knudsen, who felt that Nazism in Europe was hamstrung by the continent's historical experience, welcomed the move as he felt the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
had less of this and so he became General Secretary of the WUNS. At the time he at the head of an expansion for the group with the likes of Gaston-Armand Amaudruz
Gaston-Armand Amaudruz
Gaston-Armand "Guy" Amaudruz is a Swiss neo-fascist political philosopher and Holocaust denier.Initially a supporter of the Swiss fascist movement of Arthur Fonjallaz, he came to wider attention in 1949 when he published Ubu Justicier au Premier Procès de Nuremberg, one of the first works to...
in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, Ramon Bau in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and Victor DeCecco in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
affiliating. Before long, however, Riis-Knudsen lost this position as he did not then share Koehl's desire to form a religion based on Nazism
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
, claiming that "normal people were few and far between" when he visited Koehl's supporters. Following the breakdown of this relationship, Riis-Knudsen began to concentrate more on writing.
His seminal work was the 1987 article National Socialism - The Biological World View in which he argued that National Socialism had its basis in the laws of nature and was in effect the culmination of the search for truth as the founding principle of life. Much of what he has written in based on the mysticism of Savitri Devi.
He also published National Socialism - A Left Wing Movement (1984), which argued that the revolutionary
Revolutionary
A revolutionary is a person who either actively participates in, or advocates revolution. Also, when used as an adjective, the term revolutionary refers to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor.-Definition:...
nature of Nazism set it apart from the reactionary
Reactionary
The term reactionary refers to viewpoints that seek to return to a previous state in a society. The term is meant to describe one end of a political spectrum whose opposite pole is "radical". While it has not been generally considered a term of praise it has been adopted as a self-description by...
ways of the right
Right-wing politics
In politics, Right, right-wing and rightist generally refer to support for a hierarchical society justified on the basis of an appeal to natural law or tradition. To varying degrees, the Right rejects the egalitarian objectives of left-wing politics, claiming that the imposition of equality is...
and so Nazism was in fact a left wing
Left-wing politics
In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
ideology
Ideology
An ideology is a set of ideas that constitutes one's goals, expectations, and actions. An ideology can be thought of as a comprehensive vision, as a way of looking at things , as in common sense and several philosophical tendencies , or a set of ideas proposed by the dominant class of a society to...
.
According to Riis-Knudsen in National Socialism - A Left Wing Movement:
- "It is a historical fact that nothing good has ever come out of the right wing. If it had not been for such revolutionaries as Copernicus, KeplerJohannes KeplerJohannes Kepler was a German mathematician, astronomer and astrologer. A key figure in the 17th century scientific revolution, he is best known for his eponymous laws of planetary motion, codified by later astronomers, based on his works Astronomia nova, Harmonices Mundi, and Epitome of Copernican...
, Giordano BrunoGiordano BrunoGiordano Bruno , born Filippo Bruno, was an Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, mathematician and astronomer. His cosmological theories went beyond the Copernican model in proposing that the Sun was essentially a star, and moreover, that the universe contained an infinite number of inhabited...
and Galileo, we should still believe that the earth is flat and the center of the universe. When capitalismCapitalismCapitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
developed, the establishment made no attempt to solve the social problems resulting from the industrial revolutionIndustrial RevolutionThe Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
, but went on to exploit the new working classWorking classWorking class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
mercilessly— thus giving rise to revolutionary thoughts as expressed in Marxist ideology. And all the necessary and just social improvements we have seen during the past 100 years have only been introduced after hard pressure from the left wing, with right-wing conservativesConservatismConservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...
in constant retreat, pitifully trying to preserve as much as possible for themselves."
Riis-Knudsen had come to look for more of an accommodation with communism, becoming part of a tendency in the European far right
Far right
Far-right, extreme right, hard right, radical right, and ultra-right are terms used to discuss the qualitative or quantitative position a group or person occupies within right-wing politics. Far-right politics may involve anti-immigration and anti-integration stances towards groups that are...
at the time to think this way. Alongside Jean-François Thiriart
Jean-François Thiriart
Jean-François Thiriart was a Belgian far right politician.-Youth:Initially a Socialist, Thiriart eventually adopted a form of non-Marxist, Nationalist Socialism....
, he rejected abstract Marxism
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
but was nonetheless attracted to the practice of communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
. He even went as far as to visit the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
in 1978, a move which led to controversy in the Danish press who knew Riis-Knudsen as a neo-Nazi. He came to view Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, rather than the USA, as the saviours of the Aryan race
Aryan race
The Aryan race is a concept historically influential in Western culture in the period of the late 19th century and early 20th century. It derives from the idea that the original speakers of the Indo-European languages and their descendants up to the present day constitute a distinctive race or...
and made this break clear in A Left Wing Movement.
In Denmark itself Riis-Knudsen served as chairman of the Danmarks Nationalsocialistiske Bevægelse (National Socialist Movement of Denmark), an openly neo-Nazi organisation founded in 1970. The movement had around 1000 members by 1988 In this capacity Riis-Knudsen built up a network of contacts across Europe, working with German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Michael Kühnen
Michael Kühnen
Michael Kühnen was a leader in the German neo-Nazi movement. He was one of the first post-World War II Germans to openly embrace Nazism and call for the formation of a Fourth Reich. He enacted a policy of setting up several differently-named groups in an effort to confuse German authorities, who...
and Holocaust denier
Holocaust denial
Holocaust denial is the act of denying the genocide of Jews in World War II, usually referred to as the Holocaust. The key claims of Holocaust denial are: the German Nazi government had no official policy or intention of exterminating Jews, Nazi authorities did not use extermination camps and gas...
Thies Christophersen
Thies Christophersen
Thies Christophersen , a farmer by upbringing, was a prominent German Holocaust denier.-Christophersen and the "Auschwitz Lie":...
. He also for CEDADE
CEDADE
CEDADE was a Spanish neo-Nazi group that concerned itself with co-ordinating international activity and publishing....
in a special edition of their bulletin which also featured Salvador Borrego
Salvador Borrego
Salvador Borrego is a revisionist Mexican journalist who has written several books which have been described by several prominent historians as revisionist history....
, Wilfred von Oven
Wilfred von Oven
Wilfred von Oven was between 1943 and the German capitulation in 1945 the personal Press adjutant of Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels....
and Richard Edmonds
Richard Edmonds
Richard Edmonds is a seasoned politician of British nationalism. A former Deputy Chairman and National Organiser of the British National Party, Richard was also a long-term supporter of John Tyndall.-Biography:...
. In more recent years his international contacts have included Mark Cotterill
Mark Cotterill
Mark Adrian Cotterill is a far right political figure who has been involved in a number of movements throughout his career...
and former New Order
New Order (National Socialist)
New Order, a successor organization to the original American Nazi Party, is now a self-styled National Socialist religious group which promotes Esoteric Nazism as an alternative faith for "Aryans" ....
spokesman Martin Kerr.
Riis-Knudsen caused further controversy in the late 1980s when he appeared on TV calling for Denmark to be purged of all immigrants
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
, the death penalty for anyone caught transmitting AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
, labour camps for his political opponents and sterilization of non-whites. The appearance caused outrage in Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
and Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
and was banned from being screened in Denmark. He has also declared his support for Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
against Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
and a sympathy with Islamic fundamentalism
Islamic fundamentalism
Islamic fundamentalism is a term used to describe religious ideologies seen as advocating a return to the "fundamentals" of Islam: the Quran and the Sunnah. Definitions of the term vary. According to Christine L...
, albeit balanced against a desire to see Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
expelled from Europe.
Expelled from the DNSB in 1992 for "race mixing" in an engagement to a Palestinian Christian
Palestinian Christian
Palestinian Christians are Arabic-speaking Christians descended from the people of the geographical area of Palestine. Within Palestine, there are churches and believers from many Christian denominations, including Oriental Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholic , Protestant, and others...
whom Rii-Knudsen argued was a "white Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
", Riis-Knudsen has since turned his attention to running his own publishing house, Nordland-Verlag, from Aalborg
Aalborg
-Transport:On the north side of the Limfjord is Nørresundby, which is connected to Aalborg by a road bridge Limfjordsbroen, an iron railway bridge Jernbanebroen over Limfjorden, as well as a motorway tunnel running under the Limfjord Limfjordstunnelen....
. This has courted controversy as it has published a series of books on the topic of Holocaust denial in the Danish language
Danish language
Danish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, principally in the country of Denmark. It is also spoken by 50,000 Germans of Danish ethnicity in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where it holds the status of minority language...
.