Bellant, R.. Old Nazis, the New Right, and the Republican Party, South End Press, 1991, ISBN: 9780896084186. LINK

Russ Bellant's Old Nazis, the New Right, and the Republican Party, published under the aegis of the anti-right "Political Research Associates," is likely his most well-known work.

The Harvard Educational Review found Bellant's report noteworthy for its unveiling of domestic fascism (our emphasis):

Old Nazis, the New Right, and the Republican Party
By Russ Bellant
Boston: South End Press, 1991. 148 pp. $11.00 (paper).

While the "Reagan Revolution" made it popular in the United States once again to be openly discriminatory, neofascist thinking is presently burgeoning among the extreme right in this country. Russ Bellant, in his important book Old Nazis, the New Right, and the Republican Party, exposes the roots and growth of domestic fascist networks, which include Nazi collaborators, within the Republican Party. He reveals how such members, during the Reagan era, held positions of power on the Republican Ethnic Heritage Groups Council, an ethnic outreach division of the GOP. Bellant also scrutinizes the American Security Council for its participation in anti-Semitic and racist practices under the guise of anticommunism. It seems to me that any educator, or any citizen for that matter, interested in protecting what is left of democracy in this country needs to engage this type of research. For those who are sceptical of Bellant's conclusions, they can either take the word of Alan A. Ryan, Jr.—the former Director of the Office of Special Investigations for the Department of Justice—who says on the book's cover that it is "Well-documented and reliable," or they can begin to do some research of their own—which is what education for a responsible citizenry is supposed to be all about.1

Skeptical of Alan A. Ryan, Jr.'s assessment given he contended in his appeal of the government's loss in the Vilis Hāzners deportation case that Waffen-SS service alone proved someone a war criminal, we examined Bellant's contentions, applying Latvians as a litmus test.


1Unattributed, Harvard Educational Review, Vol. 65, No. 1, Spring 1995, 1 April 1995, accessed 30 June 2016. LINK
Updated: September, 2023
  • OLD NAZIS, THE NEW RIGHT— The Harvard Education Review states it "exposes the roots and growth of domestic fascist networks, which include Nazi collaborators, within the Republican Party." Alan A. Ryan Jr. deems it "well-documented and reliable." How do Latvians figure in Bellant's narrative?
  • Hitler's Loyal Henchmen— Bellant contends the Latvian Legion (Waffen-SS) were Hitler's SS Nazi lackeys even before the war, were funded by and served the Nazi Party, and were created, organized, and operated by the Latvians themselves.
  • Politics. It is all politics.Akselis Mangulis, whom Bellant fingers as a Latvian Nazi, sums it up best. Bellant released a draft of his report in 1988 to "select" journalists hoping to destroy the Bush presidential campaign.
  • Portrayal in the Press— We examine the Jewish Telegraph Agency's (JTA) account of Bellant's report.
  • Anti-Bolshevik Bloc of Nations— Bellant cites a work that can't spell Daugavas Vanagi to label Latvian leadership "a band" of war criminals.
  • The Campaign Against the OSI— Bellant mistakes objections to the OSI's methods for objections to its mission.
  • Chip Berlet— In a self-serving appendix, Bellant's Political Research Associates cohort extols Bellant's report and rehashes the fascist network conspiracy in chronological format.
  • Appraisal— In pursuit of his anti-Bush political agenda, Bellant embellishes and adds to the false contentions that have come before his own.
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