Chile’s defunct National Socialist Party, which has played no role in that country’s politics since prior to World WarII, has been revived, and now has 6,000 members, the Associated Press reported today from Santiago.
According to AP, the leader of the party is Franz Pfeiffer Richter, a 27-year-old law student, born of German parents. He was quoted as declaring: “We are anti-Communist and anti-Semites. Our movement follows the same rules set by Hitler.” He added, however, that his movement will seek power “by constitutional means.”
Before World War II, about five percent of Chile’s population was German, many with distinct pro-Nazi leanings. At one time, the National Socialist Party in Chile boasted it had 60,000 members, and elected three members to the country’s legislative body. There are about 30,000 Jews in Chile, the majority of them in the capital of Santiago de Chile.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
