Research Question: Is the Asatru Folk Assembly “folkish” as accurate to Hitler’s Mein Kampf?
Abstract:
The AFA is a white nationalist organization that originated in 1994. It presents itself as a community practicing pre-Christian Germanic Pagan religion. It originated from multiple splintered pagan white nationalist organizations dating back to the early 1970s. The reason the AFA is focused on for this paper is the AFA’s chosen outward presentation as a church. Their website accepts donations to a vague cause. The AFA does not want to outwardly present as white supremacist and utilizing their structure as a non profit has spread to locations worldwide. The intent of this paper is to analyze the AFA’s own documents and practices and determine whether or not they are representing the movement referred to by Hitler as “folkish”. The AFA is a registered nonprofit. The group defends their racial requirements for initiation by connecting their religious beliefs to European heritage. To compare their beliefs and statements to Mein Kampf conclusions can be made on the legitimacy of their religious beliefs in relation to race, as opposed to them simply being a racist organization. Considering their vast connection to various white nationalist organizations, by connecting their direct beliefs to Mein Kampf the reasons for the groups existence and their presence as a nonprofit can be put into question. It would also be interesting to discover what components of their organization strongly differ from Mein Kampf, as this would suggest either modernization of Nazi ideas to fit the modern day, or intentionally unspoken beliefs that may be concluded from non textual sources put out by the AFA. The structure of this paper will determine whether or not the AFA is a white supremacist “folkish” organization by comparing their religious texts and meeting documents to Mein Kampf, their organization and goals to Mein Kampf, and their actions to Main Kampf. The major sources I will be using are the direct religious teachings of the AFA on their website and their text directive 127. I will also be using Mein Kampf published 1941.
Starting places for research and general info
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asatru_Folk_Assembly
https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/asatru-folk-assembly
Major Sources:
-Land, Property, Asatru
A scholarly article discussing the purchase of land by the AFA and how it connects to their religious beliefs.
Primary source – AFA website
This website contains a vast amount of information about the organization, their recent events, locations of churches, and large amounts of other information. It also includes a library of the group’s texts and writings. This source is excellent in finding almost everything needed to determine what their beliefs are and what their practices and organization is like.
Primary source – Mein Kampf
Reynol and Hitchcock 1941 publication (from canvas)