- Greyshirts
Greyshirts or Gryshemde was a name given to a South African
Nazi movement that existed during the 1930s and 1940s. Initially referring only to a paramilitary group, it soon became shorthand for the movement as a whole.The
NSDAP/AO arrived in South Africa in 1932 and as a result a number of groups sympathetic to Nazism emerged. The most notable of these was the South African Gentile National Socialist Movement (also known as the South African Christian National Socialist Movement), formed byLouis Weichardt the following year. [Stanley G. Payne , "A History of Fascism 1914-45", London: Routledge, 2001, p. 338] A fiercely anti-Semitic group, it organised the Gryshemde as its equivalent of theSturmabteilung , although the grey shirt became so associated with the group that it was applied to the movement as a whole. In contrast to some extremist groups the Greyshirts did not split along linguistic lines, but rather sought to work with both theAfrikaans and the English-speaking populations. [Aletta J. Norval, "Deconstructing Apartheid Discourse", p. 49]The Greyshirts struggled to maintain unity and spawned a number of minor splinter groups, such as Johannes von Moltke's South African Fascists. Most of these groups united under
Daniel François Malan 's aegis when he formed his 'Purified' National Party, although the Greyshirts did not take part and contested the 1938 election alone. The decision proved unwise, however, as the Greyshirts failed to make any impact. [Payne, op cit, p. 338] The group was roundly attacked by the National Party, with an article appearing in "Die Burger " in October 1934 stating that: 'We believe that this party, generally known as the Greyshirts, under the cloak of an anti-Jewish movement, strives for a dangerous form of government in South Africa. The Greyshirts have as their aim to set up a dictator in South Africa.' [ [http://www.anc.org.za/books/reich4.html Followers of Hitler] ]Jewish immigration from
Nazi Germany to South Africa grew significantly during the 1930s and the Greyshirts launched a campaign calling for an end to the practice. A ship was chartered by the Council for German Jewry, a UK-based group, to bring as many Jews as possible toCape Town , leading to the Greyshirts organising a mass protest against the move. The scale of opposition was such thatSarah Millin appealed toJan Smuts to deal with the Greyshirts, although her request was ignored. [Claudia Bathsheba Braude, 'Introduction', "Contemporary Jewish Writing in South Africa: An Anthology"]Activities were monitored during the
Second World War , although the Greyshirts continued to exist and renamed themselves the White Workers Party in 1949. However by this time most of the membership had been lost to theHerenigde Nasionale Party and so the Greyshirts faded. [Payne, op cit, p. 339]References
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