The National Offensive (; abbreviated NO) was a German

neo-Nazi Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...

party, which existed from 3 July 1990 to 22 December 1992. ''Verfassungsschutzbericht'' 1990. Verfassungsschutz. ISSN 0177-0357. Pg. 99 It was founded by Michael Swierczek, the former chairman of the Free German Workers' Party (FAP) in

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

, who became the chairman of the NO, and Carlo Bauer, the president of the NO, during the collapse of the FAP for disappointed - mostly Bavarian - members of that party. ''Verfassungsschutzbericht'' 1991. Verfassungsschutz. ISSN 0177-0357. Pg. 98-99. The focus of the platform of the NO was its fight against immigrants. It considered the blending of cultures to be

genocide Genocide is violence that targets individuals because of their membership of a group and aims at the destruction of a people. Raphael Lemkin, who first coined the term, defined genocide as "the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group" by ...

, and therefore called for the deportation of foreigners, tightening of German asylum laws, and making it more difficult to attain German nationality. The NO was unable to receive enough signatures to participate in the Bavarian ''

Landtag A ''Landtag'' (State Diet) is generally the legislative assembly or parliament of a federated state or other subnational self-governing entity in German-speaking nations. It is usually a unicameral assembly exercising legislative competence ...

'' elections on 14 October 1990. In February 1991, Swierczek and Christian Malcoci, another NO member, were charged with the continuation of the Action Front of National Socialists/National Activists (ANS/NA), which had been banned in 1983.Profil: Nationale Offensive (NO)
apabiz.de. Retrieved 25 August 2007. By 1991, it reached a membership of around 100, as it was able to recruit members from outside Bavaria. As the party was able to gain more members in Eastern Germany, the membership increased to around 140 by 1992. From Eastern Germany, the party tried to establish contacts to the German-speaking population in

Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, in order to establish a state organization there. ''Verfassungsschutzbericht'' 1992. Verfassungsschutz. ISSN 0177-0357. Pg. 99-101. While the former SS-member

Josef Schwammberger Josef Franz Leo Schwammberger (14 February 1912 – 3 December 2004) was a German SS (''Schutzstaffel'') Non-Commissioned Officer, Oberscharführer, war criminal, and commandant of the camps in Rozwadów, Przemyśl, and Mielec. Biography During t ...

was on trial for war crimes from 1991 to 1992, the NO publicly supported him. In 1992, the NO organized a series of lectures with the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

Holocaust denier Denial of the Holocaust is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that asserts that the genocide of Jews by the Nazis is a fabrication or exaggeration. It includes making one or more of the following false claims: *Nazi Germany's "Final Solution" wa ...

David Irving David John Cawdell Irving (born 24 March 1938) is an English author and Holocaust denier who has written on the military and political history of World War II, especially Nazi Germany. He was found to be a Holocaust denier in a British court ...

, who had been introduced to the NO by Christian Worch. The party took part in the 1992 ''

'' elections in

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

, but only received a total of 183 votes, since it was only on the ballot in

Konstanz Konstanz ( , , , ), traditionally known as Constance in English, is a college town, university city with approximately 83,000 inhabitants located at the western end of Lake Constance in the Baden-Württemberg state of south Germany. The city ho ...

and

Singen Singen (; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Singe'') is an industrial city in the very south of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany and just north of the German-Swiss border. Location Singen is an industrial city situated in the far sout ...

. On 22 December 1992, the NO was banned by the

Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the ...

, just one day after the ban of the Deutscher Kameradschaftsbund (DKB), and within a month of the bans of the German Alternative (DA) and the Nationalist Front (NF). The then

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

, Rudolf Seiters, stated that the ban had been passed as the NO was an "aggressive neo-Nazi organization" that had agitated against foreigners, Jews and

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

.Germans Ban Third neo-Nazi Group
. United Press International. 1992-12-23. Retrieved 29 August 2007. The residences of about 30 party members were searched and information materials, party documents, and

floppy disk A floppy disk or floppy diskette (casually referred to as a floppy, a diskette, or a disk) is a type of disk storage composed of a thin and flexible disk of a magnetic storage medium in a square or nearly square plastic enclosure lined with a ...

s were seized by police. At the time the NO had regional organizations in Bavaria,

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...

, and

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

References

{{Authority control Banned political parties in Germany Banned far-right parties Political parties established in 1990 Political parties disestablished in 1992 Neo-Nazi political parties in Germany