Blood had to be shed. Pavlos Fyssas’ blood didn’t just stain the sidewalk of Panagi Tsaldari Street in Keratsini. It stained Greek society, its naïve tolerance, silent acceptance, unprocessed anger and despair. Golden Dawn knew the meaning of its motto “the day will come”, everyone else ignored it. The State will respond institutionally, it will condemn fascism in the courts, but it cannot condemn it in anyone’s consciousness. Furthermore, in the consciousness of those who don’t recognize Golden Dawn for what it is: an organized gang that is covering up a crime under a heinous ideological cover.

In order to tackle Golden Dawn, the conditions which bolstered it must be investigated and understood. It is the first time since the referendum of 1974 that the far-right in Greece managed to enter Parliament and since then has increased its influence, according to the polls at least. Golden Dawn’s first election win was documented in the 2010 municipal elections in Athens.

In the two consecutive elections of 2012 it managed to enter Parliament, after 30 years of transforming itself from a far-right militant group to an extremist political force.

Based on the studies after the elections in May and June of 2012, Golden Dawn’s supported increased from 20,000 in 2009 to 440,000 in 2012. Last year’s election showed a huge shift of voters from Centrism to the left and right wings, which benefited from LAOS’ decline. Certain analysts (I. Mavris, Public Issue) estimate that LAOS’ participation in the Papadimos administration legitimized the far-right as a political player. Furthermore, the operations against illegal immigration, insecurity over migration and the government’s law and order agenda, had an adverse effect on the coalition government parties.

In the 2012 elections PASOK lost about two thirds of its voters, New Democracy lost about half and aside from the far-right, ANEL appeared as the sixth party in Parliament. Golden Dawn’s main force came from former New Democracy (41%) and PASOK (20%) voters. It is remarkable that a party with such an intense ideology managed to attract voters from all Left-leaning parties. The main motives for voting Golden Dawn were “protest” (29%), “immigration and borders” (27%), “election program” (14%), “national issues” and “patriotism” (13%).

Golden Dawn’s election program made no reference to the bailout loans and only after the gatherings of “Indignados” in Syntagma Square did the party attain an “anti-bailout” profile.

According to associate profession of Sociology at the University of Athens P. Panagiotopoulos right-wing nationalist extremism and in general the anti-Western irrationalism are based in conspiracy theories. It might offer temporary comfort to someone dealing with the loss of meaning and the suffering caused by a crisis like ours, ultimately though it leads to complete destitution and raw violence. ANEL is not the sole enabler, but it is an ideological epicentre of this phenomenon which fuels Golden Dawn”.

Golden Dawn is a “masculine” party. Over 75% of its voters are men. It is also a party of new voters, since older voters have strong emotional ties to traditional parties. The majority of voters under the age of 44 chose either SYRIZA or Golden Dawn, which had a greater acceptance in the 35-44 age group, people with secondary or technical education, self employed, unemployed and civil servants. Housewives, farmers, students and pensioners kept their distance from Golden Dawn. Mr. Panagiotopoulos adds that “aside from the polls, we have a few other tools to estimate, I believe, that the financial crisis is going through a different phase. No party can effectively represent those it has chosen to represent: for New Democracy it is the urban classes, for SYRIZA the middle classes with expectations etc. Golden Dawn is the only party that aligns its rhetoric with its actions, its symbolisms with the feelings of its members”. Golden Dawn essentially entered the “election market” in 1994 by mostly recruiting members from football stadiums and gyms. Hooligans and body buildings formed the first cores. Later on Golden Dawn opened up to women, who were assigned upbringing and healthcare duties, it converted from the ancient Greek beliefs to Christianity, increased its base, responded to flirtations with political and municipal authorities and presented itself in schools.

The deputy professor of Political Science and the Panteion University of Athens Vasiliki Georgiadou, who has extensively studied right-wing extremism, is currently in Germany participating in an international watch group for the elections. Amongst her many meetings, she met with the head of the Institution for State Education in Saxony, where xenophobia is a major issue. Frank Richter informed her that according to studies they have conducted, there is a huge percentage of female educators in schools and that the children need stronger male role models. He added that male educators are going to be appointed to project positive male models, in contrast to neo-Nazi models. Mrs. Georgiadou stresses that “we need morality and principle defences. The Church, Army and Police could officially renounce Golden Dawn. The institutions against its criminal activities must also move fast. Democracy is experienced, not taught”.

Mechanisms – Protection in poor neighbourhoods

In the poor neighbourhoods of Piraeus and Western Athens, Golden Dawn has replaced every notion of a state and the combination of poverty, unemployment, immigration and right-wing populism is explosive. Golden Dawn’s chapter in Nikea has a critical role in the organization of assault groups. Their leaders take advantage of everything, they have vulnerable members on a payroll, offer “protection” to stores, and even the street stands of Pakistanis (!) in the open-air markets. The neighbourhoods are small and everyone knows what is going on. But what can they say when, for example, the New Democracy-run Central Market and Fishery Organization tolerates Golden Dawn getting the second-rate fish stocks intended for the Church’s and other charities for free, to use in its own “charitable events”? That explains why 25% of respondents from a Metron Analysis questionnaire agreed to the soup kitchens and blood donations “for Greeks only”.

The deputy professor in the Department of Political Science and Public Administration of the University of Athens Ilias Nikolakopoulos asserts that “Golden Dawn is widely tolerated” and adds that “these days Golden Dawn’s main goal is to dominate the right wing and become the protagonist in the anti-communist struggle. As soon as it entered Parliament it attempted to leave its mark in the events in Meligalas and Makrygiannis. We saw how that worked out this year. In this respect it is attempting to entrench itself in working class neighbourhoods, focusing on Piraeus, where it came third in the June 2012 elections. It is possible, at least according to polls, for it claim the second place in most municipalities in Piraeus, where it is organizing soup kitchens and maintains assault squads against the Left. In that sense, given the sense of power and immunity the neo-Nazis have, a murderous attack like the one on Tuesday was unfortunately only a matter of time”.

Dimitra Kroustalli

– originally published in Sunday print edition