The Action Front of National Socialists/National Activists (German: Aktionsfront Nationaler Sozialisten/Nationale Aktivisten; abbreviated ANS/NA) was a German neo-Nazi organization.
The group was founded in 1977 by Michael Kühnen under the name "Action Front of National Socialists" (ANS), based around a group of young neo-Nazis in Hamburg.[1] Upon founding the group Kühnen declared "we are a revolutionary party dedicated to restoring the values of the Third Reich" and adopted a version of the Nazi flag in which the swastika was reversed, with the spaces black and the actual cross blending into the background, as their organization's emblem.[2] He sought to link his movement with other groups, by seeking links with Waffen-SS veterans organisations, sending a delegation to the Order of Flemish Militants-organised international neo-Nazi rallies in Diksmuide and working closely with the Wiking-Jugend.[3]
The ANS quickly gained a reputation for provocative action, attracting much attention in 1978 when its members clashed with police after staging a "Justice for Hitler" rally, although the impetus it had built stalled somewhat when Kühnen was jailed the following year after being charged with setting up a terrorist organisation.[4] However the group continued and even merged with the National Activists (Nationale Aktivisten, a like-minded movement based in Frankfurt and Fulda.[4] As well as other leading members of the ANS/NA included Christian Worch and Bela Ewald Althans.[5]
By 1983 the group had some 270 members with other thirty local organisations or "comradeships" (Kameradschaften) and continued to attract attention by holding rallies and leafleting events and posting bills and graffiti.[4] However the ANS/NA was banned by the Ministry of the Interior in 1983 with most of its members resurfacing in a group called Die Bewegung (the Movement) as well as the Free German Workers' Party (Freie Deutsche Arbeiterpartei; FAP), a political party linked to Die Bewegung.[6] The group was officially dissolved on 7 December.[7] A minor political party that had stood for election in the 1983 election to the Landtag of Hesse, Aktion Ausländerrückführung – Volksbewegung gegen Überfremdung und Umweltzerstörung, was banned at the same time after being adjudged a front movement of ANS/NA.[4]
Kühnen re-emerged soon afterwards with a new group called Nationale Sammlung, although this too was banned in 1989.[8] Following this he began a tactic of regularly forming new movements in an attempt to keep ahead of any bans, a policy he continued to exercise until his death in 1991.[9]
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