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Matthias Koehl
2nd Commander
of the American Nazi Party
In office
August 25, 1967 – October 9, 2014
Preceded byGeorge Lincoln Rockwell
Succeeded byRocky Suhayda
2nd and 4th leader
of the World Union of National Socialists
In office
April 9, 2009 – October 9, 2014
Preceded byColin Jordan
In office
August 25, 1967 – 1968
Preceded byGeorge Lincoln Rockwell
Succeeded byColin Jordan
Personal details
Born
Matthias Koehl Jr.

(1935-01-22)January 22, 1935
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.
DiedOctober 9, 2014(2014-10-09) (aged 79)
Wisconsin, U.S.
Political partyNational Renaissance Party
United White Party
National States' Rights Party
American Nazi Party
Alma materUniversity of Wisconsin–Milwaukee
OccupationUnited States Marine, politician, writer
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Matthias Koehl Jr. (January 22, 1935 – October 9, 2014) was an American marine, neo-Nazi politician and writer. He succeeded George Lincoln Rockwell as the longest serving leader of the American Nazi Party, from 1967 to 2014.

Like the Chilean diplomat Miguel Serrano, Koehl was influenced by the occultism of the Greek–French writer Savitri Devi. He was also a close friend of the Dutch World War II Nazi collaborator Florentine Rost van Tonningen.

Early life

Born on January 22, 1935, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Hungarian immigrants of German descent, Koehl studied journalism at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee[1] and played violin with the civic opera. A teenage antisemitic activist, Koehl worked with hate groups on the East Coast and the South before joining George Lincoln Rockwell's infamous American Nazi Party and the Marine Corps.[2]

Politics

Koehl joined James Madole's National Renaissance Party, the United White Party and the National States' Rights Party, before joining the American Nazi Party in 1960.[citation needed]

In 1953, he claimed to have met with the poet and fascist activist Ezra Pound during Pound's imprisonment at St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington, DC. In 1957, he became secretary-treasurer of the committee to Free Ezra Pound. Pound gave Koehl several signed volumes of his poetry during this period, signing them "Matthias Koehl / HEIL / Ezra Pound / 1953".[3]

In August 1967, formerly a deputy commander,[4] Koehl succeeded the assassinated Rockwell as commander of the National Socialist White People's Party, known until December 1966 as the American Nazi Party.[5] In 1983, Koehl renamed the organization "New Order". At the end of his life, Koehl was the leader of the World Union of National Socialists, despite his affiliation with Esoteric Nazism having alienated some members. Although he maintained a low public profile, Koehl granted an interview to the mainstream writer William H. Schmaltz in Arlington, Virginia, in April 1996 during the preparation of Schmaltz' biography of Rockwell.[citation needed]

Death

Koehl died in the night between October 9 and 10, 2014, at the age of 79 of complications related to cancer.[6]

Works

References

  1. ^ Milwaukee Journal, September 4, 1967.
  2. ^ "Old Berlin". Milwaukee Magazine. December 1, 2008. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
  3. ^ Hanson, Bradford (June 20, 2017). "Matt Koehl and Ezra Pound: The Untold Story". National Vanguard. Retrieved January 4, 2023.
  4. ^ "Nazi Chapter to Celebrate Hitler Birthday". The Free Lance-Star. Vol. 83, no. 88. Associated Press. April 14, 1967. p. 3. Retrieved August 3, 2011 – via Google News.
  5. ^ "Nazi Party Changes Name". The Free Lance-Star. Vol. 82, no. 297. Associated Press. December 19, 1966. p. 8. Retrieved August 2, 2011 – via Google News.
  6. ^ "Longtime Neo-Nazi Matthias "Matt" Koehl Dies". Southern Poverty Law Center. October 13, 2014.

Sources

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