In Hitler's Shadow - An Israeli's Journey Inside Germany's Neo-Nazi Movement

by Yaron Svoray, Nick Taylor, Simon Wiesenthal (Introduction)

In September 1992 Yaron Svoray, an Israeli journalist, was travelling in Germany when he met a young man, a skinhead, who, taking Svoray to be a sympathetic American and not realizing he was Jewish, introduced him to the semisecret world of German neo-Nazism. In a short time, Svoray contacted the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles and, with the center's backing, returned to Germany under the name 'Ron Furey', the American representative of a fictitous right-wing organization. So began a remarkable and shocking series of encounters between Svoray and members of Germany's neo-Nazi underground. Putting himself at great personal risk and constantly fearing that his identity would be discovered, Svoray met - and documented with hidden cameras and recording devices - a terrifying array of belivers both young and old whose reach, he was shocked to find out, extends throughout Germany and beyond. He came across brutal young skinheads; paramilitary training camps that ! have sent neo-Nazi fighters to support Croatian soldiers in the former Yugoslavia; a network of committed neo-Nazis who are using their money and connections to establish political organizations; and politicians of the far right who cloak their connections to the movement in nationalist rhetoric. 'In Hitler's Shadow' is a sobering report on the real threat that is posed by Germany's neo-Nazi movement, and a startling portrayal of the dangerous personalities behind it, told by a man of immense courage who had penetrated its heart of darkness.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Politics

275 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[Stefan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting look at the neo-nazi movement in Germany during the early 90's. The books is quite readable and highly informative. Because of the nature of the book, there were no written sources and thus one could argue that some of the research may not be credible. Take this book with a grain of salt, it worth reading but make sure you read several other books as well to get a larger and hopefully better prespective on right wing politics. Recommended.

[Eric_W · Rating 4 out of 5]

Varon Svoray discovered more than he bargained for when· he infiltrated the German neo-Nazi movement. Svoray is an Israeli journalist and ex-police detective who resembles a Turkish wrestler (his description). He was investigating the story of hidden diamonds that were supposedly left by an American who was wounded before he could recover them, when he met a Nazi who mistook Svoray's familiarity with Leni Reifenstahl's Nazi propaganda films for sympathy with the cause. The Nazi invited Svoray to a private film show where they viewed Nazi propaganda films and rape/snuff . movies that they used for personal sexual gratification.

Svoray was horrified and decided after some soul-searching - to infiltrate the movement. His experiences are described in this riveting account. He solicited the support of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency which agreed to fund his undercover investigation. He disguised himself as an Australian newspaperman sympathetic to the neo-Nazi cause. Without a great deal of difficulty, mostly by asking reporters and police, he identified some of the fringe group, who led him to the core of the organization, which appeared to be more organized than German authorities were willing to admit. The neo-Nazis had strong ties to the Republikaner party, formed in 1983, dedicated to the elimination of foreigners and to a return of the more "pure Germanic ..nation" Svoray attended several parties attended by skinheads and more traditional supporters celebrating Nazi events and heroes. He learned that as many as 500 nouveau Hitler Jugend were fighting for the Croats (this was written in 1992) to learn guerrilla warfare techniques that could be used upon their return to Germany.

The question· everyone wanted answered was whether the 2,OOO-plus acts of violence. including the. murder of a German sea captain who was overheard calling Hitler a criminal, were random acts of the disaffected skinheads or an orchestrated campaign of violence to terrorize the country into adopting right-wing strategies.

The book reads like a detective novel, but I sometimes wondered about Svoray's sanity and investigative techniques. For example, I doubt if a serious spy would tape a genuine personal credit card and photograph of the wife and kiddies to his ankle while trying to impersonate someone else in the lairs of the enemy. Nor would a spy be likely to rent a car under his real name for any policeman to discover at the first traffic stop.

The ultimate value of Svoray's descent into the maelstrom is as yet unknown, although moving a fungus into the sunlight does have a sanitizing effect.

[Elliot Ratzman · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read a statistic that 90% of Germans supported Obama’s reelection. This doesn’t sound like a white supremacist polity to me. Yet in the early ‘90s, around the time of reunification of E. and W. Germany, a rash of skinhead violence plagued Germany. Though the Kohl administration downplayed the danger from the right, somehow a bumbling, brash Israeli stumbles his way into the heart of Germany’s (laughably inept) neo-Nazi movement. Nazi like me? I saw Yaron Savory speak in Israel around ‘97, a few years after this book came out. He was kind of a dick, perhaps why the Nazis took to him so quickly. There is much that is unbelievable—passing as American/Australian with his Israeli accent for starters, but the fact that the Rabbis from the Simon Wieselthal Center, the management from the Jewish press (JTA) and Svoray himself come off as less-than-competent, vain, brash and amateur, lends some credibility to the outrageous parts of the story. Also see the memorable HBO movie The Infiltrator.

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I saw Yaron Svoray speak back when I was in college. He'd just written this book. I'd always meant to buy it after hearing him lecture, and finally did a few weeks ago. Timely. He is lucky he infiltrated when he did (before the internet revolution really hit), as today (or even in the last 90s) he never would have gotten as far as he did in '92-93.

[Thomas Andrikus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite an intense read for European history aficionados. A true account retold in fictional-style narrative about how a Jewish American, posing as a sympathetic pro-Nazi from America, infiltrated a neo-Nazi group in Germany in the 1990s and how he did an exposé on the group's convoluted activities for the outside world to see.

[MAP · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loosely fits into my history folder.

Considering this book is now almost 20 years old (Geez, really? 1992 was 20 years ago? Ugh) it would be really interesting to know how this has evolved and changed, and if it has expanded or shrunk, since then.

[Leeza · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book it was quit intense but its that truth that is still a world of hate. Racial issues but we should all be treated equal even if it means putting ourselves in danger

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

amazing book about a jewish guy who infiltrates a german neo nazi group.