New York, NY, August 2, 2012 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today expressed deep concern about the latest member of the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party to join the Greek parliament, a former member of a rock music band whose lyrics routinely promoted anti-Semitism and racism.
Artemios Mathaiopoulos was sworn in to parliament on July 25, replacing another party member who resigned. He is a former member of the rock music band "Pogrom," which was known for anti-Semitic and racist lyrics.
One of the group's songs was called "Auschwitz" after the notorious Nazi death camp and included lyrics such as "piss on the Wailing Wall," "Juden Raus" ("Jews Out") and "Auschwitz, how much I love it."
"It is outrageous, but not surprising, that the latest member of the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party to join the Greek parliament has a history of promoting anti-Semitism and racism through his music," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. "This is a political party led by anti-Semites and Holocaust deniers and it is troubling that they were elected to parliament amidst Greece's economic and social crisis."
In a letter to Vangelis Meimarakis, the President of the Greek Parliament, ADL praised the collective action of the other parties to deprive Golden Dawn of an expected parliamentary vice presidency and urged him to maintain vigilance against hate speech by disciplining any members of Golden Dawn who make anti-Semitic or racist statements.
Golden Dawn party currently holds 18 seats in Greek parliament.
In May, ADL spoke out when Golden Dawn garnered enough votes to earn seats in Parliament and condemned a party leader who questioned whether the Holocaust actually happened.