The Collegium Humanum was an ecofascist organisation in Germany from 1963 to 2008. It was established in 1963[1] as a club, was first active in the German environmental movement, then from the early 1980s became a far-right political organisation and was banned in 2008 by the Federal Minister of the Interior Wolfgang Schäuble due to "continued denial of the Holocaust".[2]
History
editThe Collegium Humanum was founded in 1963 by Werner Georg Haverbeck,[1] a former Nazi, as a "community college (Heimvolkshochschule) for the environment and protection of life" in Vlotho. The Collegium Humanum was registered as a non-profit association in Bad Oeynhausen (entry date: December 10, 1968).[3]
From 1972 the Collegium was a member of the German section of the World Union for Protection of Life.[4] In the run-up to the 1979 European elections, preparatory talks were held in the Collegium Humanum to establish the Sonstige Politische Vereinigung Die Grünen (SPV), in which conservative and middle-class environmental initiatives were organized.[5] At the same time, the "Ecological Manifesto" of the National Democratic Party of Germany was being drawn up there.[4]
Funding
editThe Collegium Humanum was financed through seminar fees and donations.[6]
Prohibition
editAccording to critical statements by the President of the Zentralrat der Juden in Deutschland (Central Council of Jews in Germany), Charlotte Knobloch, she was threatened on 30 January 2008 in a letter from the chairman of the association and subsequently filed a complaint.[7]
On 7 May 2008, the Collegium Humanum, including the affiliated association "Bauernhilfe e. V.", was banned by the Federal Minister of the Interior under section 3 of the Association Act, as "against the constitutional order of the Federal Republic of Germany (judges) and (...) continued by (...) denial of the Holocaust against valid right." In connection with the banning of the organisation, house searches were carried out at several locations in Germany.[2]
References
edit- ^ a b Collegium Humanum: Von der NS-Reichsleitung zum Zentrum der Holocaustleugner [Collegium Humanum: From the Nazi Reichsleitung to the center of the Holocaust deniers] (in German). 2006. p. 9.
- ^ a b "Schäuble verbietet rechtsextreme Organisationen" [Schäuble bans right-wing extremist organizations]. Die Welt Online (in German). 7 May 2008. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
- ^ Entry Bad Oeynhausen VR 403 ii Gemeinsames Registerportal der Länder
- ^ a b Benz, Wolfgang (2012). Handbuch des Antisemitismus (Organisationen, Institutionen, Bewegungen.) [Handbook of Antisemitism (Organizations, Institutions, Movements.)] (in German). Vol. 5. Walter de Gruyter. pp. 114–115.
- ^ Tomkowiak, Ingrid (1996). "Das »Heidelberger Manifest« und die Volkskunde" [The »Heidelberg Manifesto« and folklore]. Zeitschrift für Volkskunde (in German). 92: 197.
- ^ German Bundestag, printed matter 16/4919, 16th election period, reply by the Federal Government to the small question of the deputies Ulla Jelpke, Jan Korte, Kersten Naumann and the faction Die Linke. - Printing document 16/4687 of 30 March 2007, p. 4.
- ^ "Rechtsextreme Bedrohung" [Right-wing extremist threat]. focus.de (in German). 3 March 2008.