Michael Swierczek (born 1961 in

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

) is a German

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

who lives in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

. Swierczek began his political career as a member of the Young National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD). He was one of the leaders of the ''Freien Nationalisten'' before taking over the leadership of the Munich ''Kameradschaft'' of the Action Front of National Socialists/National Activists (ANS/NA). Swierczek then threw his lot in with the

Free German Workers' Party The Free German Workers' Party (german: link=no, Freiheitliche Deutsche Arbeiterpartei; abbreviated FAP) was a neo-Nazi political party in Germany. It was outlawed by the Federal Constitutional Court in 1995. History The FAP was founded in 1 ...

(FAP), serving that group as both Vice General Secretary and chair of the ''FAP-Landesverbandes Bayern''.Fakten und Argumente zum NPD-Verbot
/ref> Swierczek split from the FAP in 1990 and formed his own group,

National Offensive The National Offensive (german: Nationale Offensive; abbreviated NO) was a German neo-Nazi party, which existed from 3 July 1990 to 22 December 1992. ''Verfassungsschutzbericht'' 1990. Verfassungsschutz. ISSN 0177-0357. Pg. 99 It was founded by M ...

, in

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...

on 3 July. Although claiming only around 140 members the group became an important source of

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...

and as leader Swierczek became an important figure in

historical revisionism In historiography, historical revisionism is the reinterpretation of a historical account. It usually involves challenging the orthodox (established, accepted or traditional) views held by professional scholars about a historical event or times ...

, organising events that featured David Irving and other leading figures as speakers. However this group, which was mostly active in

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

and

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

, was banned by the

Federal Minister of the Interior Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...

on 22 December 1992. Following the outlawing of National Offensive, Swierczek continued in his attempts to organise extremist movements. After attempting to reconvene the ANS/NA he was tried before the

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

regional court and, on 7 May 1995, was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment for trying to restart this banned group.Antifaschistisches Autorenkollektiv (Hrsg.), Drahtzieher im braunen Netz – Ein aktueller Überblick über den Neonazi-Untergrund in Deutschland und Österreich, Hamburg 1996, p. 161 He has subsequently returned to the NPD.

References

1963 births Living people National Democratic Party of Germany politicians convicted of crimes German prisoners and detainees Politicians from Hanover Free German Workers' Party politicians Prisoners and detainees of Germany {{Germany-NPD-politician-stub