CEDADE (from the initials of ''Círculo Español de Amigos de Europa'' or 'Spanish Circle of Friends of Europe') was a Spanish neo-Nazi group that concerned itself with co-ordinating international activity and publishing.

History

The group began life in 1966, under Franco's rule, ostensibly as a society for the appreciation of Richard Wagner but before long it had taken on a neo-Nazi dimension, influenced by the likes of

Otto Skorzeny Otto Johann Anton Skorzeny (12 June 1908 – 5 July 1975) was an Austrian-born German SS-''Obersturmbannführer'' (lieutenant colonel) in the Waffen-SS during World War II. During the war, he was involved in a number of operations, including th ...

, who was a founding member.

Martin A. Lee Martin A. Lee is an American author and activist who has written books and articles on far-right movements, terrorism, media issues, and drug politics. Education and career Lee has an undergraduate degree in philosophy from the University of Mich ...

, ''

The Beast Reawakens ''The Beast Reawakens'' (later prints carried the subtitle ''Fascism's Resurgence from Hitler's Spymasters to Today's Neo-Nazi Groups and Right-Wing Extremists'') is a 1997 book by investigative journalist Martin A. Lee, in which the author discuss ...

'', Warner Books, 1997, p. 186 Counting

Léon Degrelle Léon Joseph Marie Ignace Degrelle (; 15 June 1906 – 31 March 1994) was a Belgian Walloon politician and Nazi collaborator. He rose to prominence in Belgium in the 1930s as the leader of the Rexist Party (Rex). During the German occupatio ...

among its leading members, the Circle became a study group and publishing house for materials relating to

Nazism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) i ...

and

Holocaust denial Holocaust denial is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that falsely asserts that the Nazi genocide of Jews, known as the Holocaust, is a myth, fabrication, or exaggeration. Holocaust deniers make one or more of the following false statements: ...

, with a remit towards closer co-operation across

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. Initially led by Ángel Ricote, the group looked towards Italian fascism for inspiration, but under Pedro Aparicio it moved towards a Nazi position.José L. Rodríguez Jiménez
Antisemitism and the Extreme Right in Spain (1962–1997)
CEDADE, whose headquarters were located in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, established a branch in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

in 1973. The group had 2,500 Spanish members by 1985, with smaller groups also active elsewhere. Among those associated with the group was Klaus Georg Barbie, the son of

Klaus Barbie Nikolaus "Klaus" Barbie (25 October 1913 – 25 September 1991) was a German operative of the SS and SD who worked in Vichy France during World War II. He became known as the "Butcher of Lyon" for having personally tortured prisoners—primar ...

, who was revealed by '' El País'' to have worked closely with CEDADE whilst living in Barcelona between 1965 and 1978. Internationally CEDADE also maintained close links to the likes of Mark Fredriksen,Lee, ''The Beast Reawakens'', p. 202

Bela Ewald Althans Bela Ewald Althans (born 23 March 1966) is a German former neo-Nazi. Once the leading organiser in Germany's neo-Nazi underground, Althans left the movement following his imprisonment in the 1990s, and is no longer involved in politics. Early N ...

Povl Riis-Knudsen Povl Heinrich Riis-Knudsen 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). Life and ideas ...

Salvador Borrego Salvador Borrego Escalante (24 April 1915 – 8 January 2018) was a Mexican journalist and historical revisionist writer. Borrego began his career in journalism in 1936, as a reporter of the Mexican newspaper Excélsior where he eventually was ...

Wilfred von Oven Wilfred von Oven (4 May 1912 – 13 June 2008) was a German journalist, publicist and civil servant who served as the Press Adjutant of Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels between 1943 and the German capitulation in 1945. Biography Wilfred vo ...

and

Richard Edmonds Richard Charles Edmonds (10 March 1943 – 23 December 2020) was an English politician. He was the deputy chairman and national organiser of the British National Party (BNP) and also prominent in the National Front (NF) during two spells of m ...

. Secretary Jordi Mota also established links between CEDADE and

, with whom Mota was on friendly terms.Magnus Linklater, Isabel Hilton & Neal Ascherson, ''The Fourth Reich: Klaus Barbie and the Neo-Fascist Connection'', Hodder & Stoughton, 1984, p. 227 Taking a European outlook, it set up groups in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, as well as in

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

and registered as a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

in 1979 under the name of ''Partido Europeo Nacional Revolucionario'' (European National Revolutionary Party), although this initiative was not pursued. As a publishing house, however, CEDADE continued to grow and was soon publishing for a number of movements in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Using the name ''Ediciones Wotan'' for this initiative, it published works by the likes of Degrelle and

Francis Parker Yockey Francis Parker Yockey (September 18, 1917 – June 16, 1960) was an American fascist and pan-Europeanist ideologue. A lawyer, he is known for his neo- Spenglerian book '' Imperium: The Philosophy of History and Politics'', published in 1948 u ...

and collaborated closely with the

Liberty Lobby Liberty Lobby was a far-right think tank and lobby group founded in 1958 by Willis Carto. Carto was known for his promotion of antisemitic conspiracy theories, white nationalism, and Holocaust denial. The organization produced a daily five-mi ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Financial difficulties forced a major scaling down in activities around 1989-90 however, although the group did host an international centenary celebration of

Hitler's Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

birthday in 1989. The problems inherent in the movement did not go away however and they were officially dissolved in October 1993. Members drifted away into various movements, with only Project IES representing a serious attempt at refoundation. This group was ultimately merged into a far right party,

National Democracy National Democracy may refer to: * National Democracy (Czech Republic) * National Democracy (Italy) * National Democracy (Philippines) * National Democracy (Poland) * National Democracy (Spain) See also * Civic nationalism, a general concept * ...

References

{{Authority control Neo-Nazi organizations Neo-Nazism in Spain Organisations based in Barcelona Far-right politics in Catalonia