The rise of the neo-Nazi party ‘Golden Dawn’ in Greece

Dimitris Psarras, September 2013 - September 2014

Neo-Nazi mobilization in the wake of the crisis

One of the most significant repercussions of the economic, social and political crisis in Greece is the emergence of the openly National Socialist group Chrysi Avgi (Golden Dawn) on the Greek political scene. The organization arose only a few years after the Greek military junta (1967-1974), but until 2009 it existed only at the right-wing fringes of society, going mostly unnoticed by the general public. Since the official establishment of Chrysi Avgi in 1980 – and regardless of its’ so far rather little significance – it is repeating the same political messages and is still leaning on the same central leadership. The organization has systematically used violence as a mean for political dispute. How did this nazi group manage over all those years to remain “invisible” while simultaneously being prepared to rear its’ ugly head at the very right moment and being so successful?

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