FTR-213 Interview with Kevin Coogan on His Book Dreamer of the Day: Francis Parker Yockey and the Post-War Fascist International
(One 30-minute segment) $8.50
This interview with the brilliant Kevin Coogan supplements the discussion in FTR-185. (That program highlights Kevin's book, the title of which is presented in the title of this broadcast. The book is published in soft cover by Autonomedia.) Beginning with review of who Yockey was and what the post-war fascist international is (see FTR-185), the program analyzes Yockey's magnum opus Imperium. This fascist tract proposes a European pan-fascist empire as a bulwark against the former Soviet Union and the United States. (It should be noted that Yockey viewed the U.S. as the greater threat.) Yockey (in partnership with other members of the post-war fascist international) formed an early attempt at realizing Imperium: the European Liberation Front. A united, fascist Europe was a goal envisaged by key members of the SS (the Waffen SS, in particular) during the closing stages of the Second World War. In consideration of the alienating effect of the doctrinaire German chauvinism of the "traditional" SS and the Third Reich, these SS officials sought to remedy the defect. Proposing that Europe be consolidated as a fascist entity without nationalist hierarchy, these SS men exerted a direct, personal influence on Yockey and his ideas. The program underscores the profound anti-Americanism of Yockey and the influence this outlook has had on contemporary fascist groups. Although Yockey is not well known by those outside the ranks of doctrinaire fascists (and those who study them), he was very influential. One of the best-known figures on the far right was Senator Joe McCarthy, who was significantly influenced by Yockey. Introduced to Yockey's thinking and work by common associates on the pro-German far right, McCarthy incorporated Yockey's attitude and work in his attack on the Malmedy trials. (These war crimes trials assessed the fate of SS officers who had massacred American POW's during the Battle of the Bulge.) McCarthy bitterly attacked American survivors of the massacre and his and others' attacks on the Malmedy proceedings subverted further prosecutions of Nazi war criminals and undermined the denazification of Germany. Program Highlights Include: discussion of the mysterious fate of Karl Hanke (selected to succeed Heinrich Himmler as head of the SS (Hanke flew out of Berlin as the Red Army was entering the city, never to be seen or heard from again); discussion of Werner Best (one of the SS theoreticians who influenced Yockey's thinking); discussion of Franz Alfred Six (an SS colleague of Best and an influence on Yockey); discussion of Alfred Franke-Griksch (an SS associate of Best and Six and an influence on Yockey); analysis of the attitude of influential American military officers who shared McCarthy's antipathy toward the Malmedy trials; discussion of the impending publication of Kevin Coogan's brilliant and consummately important manuscript American Gladio? (That manuscript is the focal point of FTR-188.) (See also: RFA #'s 1-3, 10-13, 37 and Miscellaneous Archive Shows M-60, M-61 as well as FTR #'s 185, 188 and the other programs referenced in the descriptions for them.) (Recorded on 3/l9/2000.)