The nomination yesterday of seven West German military officers, and the anticipated candidacy of some non-commissioned officers, to run for Parliament on the slate of the extreme right-wing, neo-Nazi National Democratic Party (NPD) in next September’s national elections has embarrassed the West German Defense Ministry. There are also repercussions in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, it was learned today. The NPD, headed by a former Nazi Party member, Adolf von Thadden, has a paid membership of about 27,000 which is said to include fewer than 1,000 active professional soldiers, but the party is making a strong bid for support among the military. According to one Defense Ministry official the NPD represents an “ugly problem” because of its attempts to feed on dissatisfaction in the armed services.
Some 50 officers and non-commissioned officers work actively for the NPD. The highest ranking officer among them is Capt. Ernst Thomsen, a naval aviator who was Assistant Chief of Staff of NATO’s Baltic Approaches Command in Kiel. He announced a week ago that he would be the NPD candidate in the nearby election district of Schleswig-Eckernforde. The Defense Ministry announced that Capt. Thomsen has been withdrawn from his NATO post as of April 1 and assigned to a desk job at a land base in Bensberg. He was supposed to have remained with NATO until October. Military sources here said Capt. Thomsen had become an outspoken critic of NATO and of the West German military forces since he joined the NPD.
Other military men who have agreed to become NPD candidates were identified by the newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine last week as an army major, three captains and two sergeants. An NPD spokesman said last week that Capt. Thomsen joined the party last December and was asked to stand for election because, “we believe in an active military policy and that must be made with people who are up-to-date like Capt. Thomsen, who knows from his NATO duty what is wrong in the services.”
(The Daily Telegraph said in London today that the embarrassment caused by military officers running as NPD candidates might strengthen support in West German Government circles for an appeal to the Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe to ban the NPD as anti-democratic. Such a step is strongly advocated by Interior Minister Ernst Benda whose ministry recently concluded an exhaustive investigation of the NPD. But up to now political observers saw little chance that such action would be taken.)
Help ensure Jewish news remains accessible to all. Your donation to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency powers the trusted journalism that has connected Jewish communities worldwide for more than 100 years. With your help, JTA can continue to deliver vital news and insights. Donate today.
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.
