RESISTANCE MOVEMENT. Simon Lindberg held a speech at the conference of the Nationalist Socialist organisation Devenir Europeo in Madrid, where deeper ties were forged between the two groups.
Last weekend, the leader of the Nordic Resistance Movement, Simon Lindberg, and the Swedish National Council member Fredrik Vejdeland attended a conference organised by Devenir Europeo in Madrid. Simon also gave a speech at the conference.
Devenir Europeo is a National Socialist organisation that has existed for a long time in Spain but which has recently become increasingly active. A representative from the Spanish organisation, Rafael Montes, appeared on the Nordic Resistance Movement’s Icelandic podcast Landsmenn in December, where he discussed Devenir Europeo’s activities. The Resistance Movement has previously been in contact with representatives from Devenir Europeo, which also cooperates with Der Dritte Weg in Germany. The Nordic Resistance Movement was invited to the conference to increase cooperation between the organisations.
“Europe’s most dangerous man”
The Nordic Resistance Movement representatives arrived in the Spanish capital on Friday evening, where they were picked up by members of Devenir Europeo. The Spanish comrades served them traditional Spanish food and then informed them of the schedule for Saturday’s event. Expectations were high, as mass media reports claiming that “Europe’s most dangerous man” would speak had led to extra work for the organisers, as an extra 30 people had applied to attend the event. When it got late, the Swedish delegation went back to their hotel, where the conference would take place the following day.
Honouring fallen comrades
As the conference was to be held in the evening, the first part of Saturday was spent seeing a little more of Madrid, including a visit to a museum about the Spanish Civil War. The guides informed the Swedish guests about the Spaniards’ fight against communism, led by General Franco and the Falangists.
Afterwards, a visit was made to a cemetery, where fallen Falangists lay buried alongside members of the Condor Legion (German soldiers who supported the Spanish Civil War) and the Blue Division (Spaniards who later fought for Germany on the Eastern Front). At the cemetery, representatives from Devenir Europeo gave speeches about the fallen soldiers and the battles in which they fought. Although the purpose of visiting both the museum and cemetery was chiefly to honour fallen heroes from the Falange movement, an important distinction was made that helped underline the fact that Devenir Europeo is a National Socialist – and not a Falangist – organisation. Many of the Falangists fought against communism for their country’s freedom, while the Spaniards in the Blue Division were mostly National Socialists who fought for a united Europe. The struggle for a united Europe is also a major part of Devenir Eurpeo’s vision.
The big conference
On Saturday evening, Devenir Europeo’s conference took place in a venue full of Spanish National Socialists. First to speak was Ramon Bau, one of the founders of Devenir Europeo. Bau’s speech largely focused on the organisation’s visions and goals and the values that a member of Devenir Europeo should possess. The Swedish delegation felt that Bau’s speech touched on similar issues to those contained in Anton Holzner’s book Master Life.
The second speaker, a doctorate in history named Jesús Lorente, gave a historical and more esoteric talk about our ancestors’ view of death. Lorente spoke about everything from the Spartan view of death to the männerbund and the Old Norse belief that a man cannot enter Valhalla unless he dies in battle. Here, too, the visiting Swedes noted references to a book published in Swedish: Wulf Sörensen’s Vän Döþer.
Last to speak was the leader of the Nordic Resistance Movement, Simon Lindberg. Lindberg spoke about the Nordic Resistance Movement’s activities as a broad organisation with an emphasis on activism, and explained how the organisation has made itself effective. The speech ended with an action-packed video from Nordic Resistance Movement demonstrations and spectacular actions. The speech was very well received, and the spectacular actions – so-called Skorzeny actions – were something the Spanish comrades brought up in conversation multiple times during the weekend.
El Escorial
After the well-attended conference – which neither the police nor the extreme left managed to stop, despite calls to do so in parliament – Sunday was spent seeing even more of Spain, this time via a trip to El Escorial, a few miles outside Madrid. Built by the Spanish king Philip II in the 16th century, with the aim of creating a symbol for Spain, El Escorial is a magnificent work of Renaissance architecture and a World Heritage Site. The complex consists of a royal castle, monastery and palace, where all the Spanish kings since Philip II are buried. During the visit, a member of Devenir Europeo gave a talk about the site.
Deeper cooperation
In the evening, Lindberg and Vejdeland held a meeting with some of the leading people in Devenir Europeo. It was decided that we would deepen our cooperation, as we generally want to achieve the same things, despite some differences. It was also clear to the Swedish delegation that Devenir Europeo, like the Nordic Resistance Movement, strive for quality above quantity, and that their members possess a willingness to self-sacrifice. As a conclusion to this very pleasant trip, we went out again to eat and have a couple of beers with our Spanish comrades.
Continued media attention
The media publicity and interest in the Nordic Resistance Movement, Simon Lindberg and Devenir Europeo continued for several days after the conference. This included major articles in Spain’s biggest newspaper, El Pais; several-minute-long features with so-called experts on Spanish TV news; and reports in the leftist paper Luhnoticas, which described Lindberg as “the leader of European Nazism”.
