Golden Dawn party symbol
Photo: Reuters
Greece welcomes newest MP: A 'Nazi punk' musician
Artemis Matthaiopoulos of neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party used to play bass for band called Pogrom, whose songs include 'Auschwitz' and 'Speak Greek or Die'
A "Nazi punk" musician who once sang that he would burn down parliament has become Greece's newest MP.
Artemis Matthaiopoulos, a member of the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party, used to play bass for a band called Pogrom, known for its racist lyrics, Britain's The Times reported on Thursday.
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Among the songs was one titled 'Auschwitz', which contains the lines “F*** Wiesenthal. F*** Anne Frank. F*** the whole tribe of Abraham. The Star of David makes me vomit.”
Golden Dawn party rally in Greecev (Photo: Reuters)
The band’s best-known song is called Speak Greek or Die, an overt threat to immigrants coming to Greece, with the lyrics: “You come to our country, you don’t have any work,you’re starving, you bums, and you eat children,you speak Russian, you speak Albanian, but now you will speak proper Greek. Speak Greek or die, speak Greek or die.”
Matthaiopoulos' new career may be seen as surprising as one song he sings called 'A Stroll in Parliament' includes the lyrics: “I’m going to go into the Parliament and I’ll burn it all down.”
Matthaiopoulos is the second neo-Nazi rocker to represent Golden Dawn in the Greek Parliament.
George Germenis, who goes by the stage name Kaiadas after the chasm where Ancient Spartans reputedly hurled their defective babies, was elected in the country’s May 6 election and re-elected in the re-run on June 17.
Golden Dawn, which uses Nazi slogans and denies the Holocaust, won 18 seats in the June 17 poll with seven percent of the vote.
Matthaiopoulos was described as a friend of the daughter of Golden Dawn leader Nikolaos Michaloliakos, whose wife is also in Parliament.
Golden Dawn has provoked outrage since entering Parliament for the first time. Its spokesman slapped a woman MP during a TV talk show and supporters have been linked to attacks on immigrants.
The party recently announced a Greeks-only blood drive, putting up posters in Athens calling for volunteers to donate blood “only for Greeks who need our help.”
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