Polish communities calling for investigation into alleged right-wing extremist activity in Cape Breton
The Atlantic Canada District of the Canadian Polish Congress
is asking Nova Scotia's attorney general to look into an alleged plan by some
far right ideologists to create a "colony" of "like-minded"
Germans in Cape Breton.
"Our community is very concerned about reports
emanating from Der Spiegel and picked up by mainstream Canadian media about
far-right extremists organizing to purchase properties in Cape Breton,"
chair Tom Urbaniak wrote in the letter, which was sent to Nova Scotia Justice
Minister Mark Furey on Saturday.
News of the alleged plan was first published last week by
Der Spiegel, one of Germany's most popular political magazines, before being
picked up by other media there and in Canada.
The article names former German television newscaster Eva
Herman, her partner Andreas Popp and Frank Eckhardt as three German nationals
living in Cape Breton who are connected with the plan.
Herman and Popp have said the article isn't accurate in a
statement on Herman's website, posted in German and English. A portion of their
statement appears in the Cape Breton Post today. The full version is available
on our website.
A request for comment emailed to F.E. Property Sales wasn't
returned by publication time.
It is alleged Popp and Herman use week-long seminars at
different venues in Cape Breton hosted by Knowledge Factory (Wissensmanufaktur),
an organization founded by Popp about 15 years ago to bring right-winged
thinkers together, to do this along with the help of Cape Breton Real
Solutions.
Journalist Dr. Martin Doerry spoke to dozens of sources for
the article in Der Spiegel, some who attended one of the Cape Breton seminars
where attendees reportedly aren't allowed to leave, cell phones are taken and
there are right-wing conspiracy discussions along with a sales pitch for living
in Cape Breton, which is free of possible political turmoil.
Eckhart used to be an employee of Popp's. Since splitting
with Popp years ago, Eckhardt started F.E. Property Sales. On the company
website's homepage it says the island appeals to people who want to get away
from the "increasingly authoritarian and runaway administrative
machinery" currently in Germany and the European Union. The information on
the website also discusses becoming self-sufficient and independent from
institutions, something right-wing extremists who share the global collapse
doomsday theory often speak of.
Eckhardt is also believed to be a Holocaust denier and, as
detailed in the Der Spiegel article, the RCMP have investigated the propery
developer for allegedy distributing Nazi material to a F.E. Property Sales
client. The client turned the material over to Baddeck RCMP and the case was
forwarded to Interpol in Ottawa and then onto Germany.
As many as three million Polish Jews were killed during the
Holocaust, which is believed to be half of the total number who died during the
Second World War at the hands of the Nazis.
"Polish communities in our region stand in solidarity
with all communities in denouncing hatred, extremism, racism and anti-Semitism.
Many of us have relatives or ancestors who were direct victims of Nazi terror
and hate when Poland was invaded and brutally occupied in the name of sick
extremism," said Urbaniak.
"This makes us especially determined to work for peace,
human rights and inclusion for all. We must all be alert to the possibility
that hatred and extremism are being actively promoted in our area. As caring
Canadians, we cannot ignore it."
Urbaniak said the Polish Congress has sent a letter to Fuery
in hopes he will order an investigation to be started both provincially and
federally.
"The attorney general himself would, of course, be at
arms-length from any investigations," he said. "But we are asking him
to request the relevant authorities, including his federal counterparts, to
investigate if any hate crimes have been committed and if the persons named in
the investigative reporting have respected the terms and conditions of entry
into, or settlement in, Canada and Nova Scotia."
Making it clear their concerns aren't in any way directed at
"the overwhelming majority of residents and visitors of German heritage
(in Cape Breton). People of German heritage have contributed immensely to our
province, and continue to do so," Urbaniak said he believes the majority
of people in Cape Breton are "committed to the values of decency, equality
and generosity."
" I think most Cape Bretoners of all backgrounds
viscerally oppose hatred and extremism. If any far-right groups are seeking to
build sanctuaries or clusters on our island to promote or cultivate a
frightening alternative universe, they are definitely looking in the wrong
place."
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