Eighteen hundred new members entered the German National Democratic Party in the month of December alone, the neo-Nazi party’s vice-chairman claimed today, bringing its total membership to 25,491. In November 1964, total membership of the party was only 473, he said.
The party official, M. Gottman, told an NDF meeting here that the party would make significant gains in the Baden-Wuerttemberg state elections next year, rivaling its successes in Bavaria and Hesse. He predicted the party would capture ten to twelve seats in the state parliament.
In an evident effort to change the impression of the party as one composed of former Nazis and neo-Nazis, Herr Gottman stressed the relative youth of its membership, asserting that the average age of party members was 31.7 years. He drew cheers from his audience when he attacked Chancellor Kurt Georg Kiesinger, and the United States and proclaimed that “we Germans no longer wish to be the world’s pariah.”
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.
